NBAPA executive director Billy Hunter believes that the entire NBA season is in danger of being canceled.
“The circumstances have changed among [David Stern’s] constituency,” Hunter told a group of lawyers Wednesday, as quoted in the Baltimore Sun. “In the last six or seven years, there is a new group of owners to come in who paid a premium for their franchises, and what they’re doing is kind of holding his feet to the fire.”
Hunter told an American Bar Association conference that if he “had to bet on it”, he would wager that there will be no NBA season.
“We’re $800 million apart per year,” Hunter said Wednesday, adding, “something has to happen that both of us can use as leverage to save face.”
If the NFL lockout was bad, the NBA’s situation is far worse due to just how far the two sides are apart. The owners aren’t afraid to cancel the season because many of them would save money (i.e. they’re in the red). Many players have saved up in case of a lockout and are even finding work elsewhere. This looks like it’s going to get ugly.
