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NBA players reject deal, start disbanding union

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Players Association president Derek Fisher, center, spoke after a meeting of the players' union in New York on Monday. [Source: Sina.com]

NBA players rejected the league's latest offer Monday and began disbanding their union, paving the way for a yet-to-be filed lawsuit and throwing the 2011-12 season into jeopardy.

Billy Hunter, the executive director of the now-defunct N.B.P.A., made the announcement just before 2 p.m., after a four-hour meeting of union officials and player representatives from all 30 teams.

"The players just felt that they had given enough, that the N.B.A. was not willing or prepared to continue to negotiate," Hunter said, with more than 40 players packed behind him in a small hotel conference room. "Things were not going to get better."

Hunter said players were not prepared to accept Stern's ultimatum to accept the current proposal or face a worse one, saying they thought it was "extremely unfair." And they're aware what this battle might cost them.

In an interview on ESPN, Stern said that the N.B.A. was entering a "nuclear winter."He also said the league's latest offer was not an ultimatum but a revised proposal. "When you negotiate for 2 ½ years and finally get to where the parties are ... that's not an ultimatum. That's a proposal that's ready to be voted up or down," Stern said. "They seem hell-bent on self-destruction and it's very sad."

"There will ultimately be a new collective bargaining agreement,"Stern said in his statement, "but the 2011-12 season is now in jeopardy.”

Without a union, the players are now free to sue the N.B.A. under antitrust laws and challenge the legality of the lockout. Hunter said a lawsuit would be filed within the next two days.