chrisrod2008
09-14-2011, 10:37 AM
Sep 14, 2011 10:24 AM EDT
http://basketball.realgm.com/images/nba/4.2/wiretap/photos/2006/Hunter_Billy_nba_110711.jpg
Billy Hunter will meet with players in Las Vegas on Wednesday and a coup to wrangle position away from him may be waiting.
“Now Billy has to go to Las Vegas with nothing to bring the players,” a prominent agent told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday night.
“He’s chosen a particular path, and there hasn’t been any progress on that path. There was all this false optimism in the last week about how the league was going to come with a new proposal that he could take back to the players, and they came with nothing. Stern wants to stall, and stall until the players start missing paychecks.
“Billy was hoping that he could keep the players engaged, excited that a deal was coming. There was all that rhetoric of good feelings, and today was the day that Stern was going to come with a proposal. He was relying on the fact that Stern would negotiate in good faith with him, that he didn’t want to lose games. He thought that Stern would blink, start to negotiate. He was relying on the fact Stern didn’t want to hurt the game, and he was wrong.”
Several high-profile agents, including Jeff Schwartz, Arn Tellem, Mark Bartelstein, Bill Duffy and Dan Fegan, have been on the phones with each other this week. Sources briefed on the conversations say they’re getting closer to pursuing a signed petition, with 30 percent of the NBA’s players needed to bring a formal vote on dissolving the union.
The core agents had been recruiting rival agents to join them in the overthrow, trying to get the majority vote needed to decertify.
“They’re all militant against the union now,” an agent who works in one of those agencies told Yahoo!.
One agent says he’s had several conversations in the last 48 hours with the powerbrokers, and feels inclined to eventually join the cause. “There are still players who are on board with [Hunter], but many are not anymore,” the agent told Yahoo! Sports. “This will not be a pretty meeting.”
Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/215578/High_Profile_Agents_Discussing_Overthrow_Of_Hunter _Union#ixzz1XwRclHZC
http://basketball.realgm.com/images/nba/4.2/wiretap/photos/2006/Hunter_Billy_nba_110711.jpg
Billy Hunter will meet with players in Las Vegas on Wednesday and a coup to wrangle position away from him may be waiting.
“Now Billy has to go to Las Vegas with nothing to bring the players,” a prominent agent told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday night.
“He’s chosen a particular path, and there hasn’t been any progress on that path. There was all this false optimism in the last week about how the league was going to come with a new proposal that he could take back to the players, and they came with nothing. Stern wants to stall, and stall until the players start missing paychecks.
“Billy was hoping that he could keep the players engaged, excited that a deal was coming. There was all that rhetoric of good feelings, and today was the day that Stern was going to come with a proposal. He was relying on the fact that Stern would negotiate in good faith with him, that he didn’t want to lose games. He thought that Stern would blink, start to negotiate. He was relying on the fact Stern didn’t want to hurt the game, and he was wrong.”
Several high-profile agents, including Jeff Schwartz, Arn Tellem, Mark Bartelstein, Bill Duffy and Dan Fegan, have been on the phones with each other this week. Sources briefed on the conversations say they’re getting closer to pursuing a signed petition, with 30 percent of the NBA’s players needed to bring a formal vote on dissolving the union.
The core agents had been recruiting rival agents to join them in the overthrow, trying to get the majority vote needed to decertify.
“They’re all militant against the union now,” an agent who works in one of those agencies told Yahoo!.
One agent says he’s had several conversations in the last 48 hours with the powerbrokers, and feels inclined to eventually join the cause. “There are still players who are on board with [Hunter], but many are not anymore,” the agent told Yahoo! Sports. “This will not be a pretty meeting.”
Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/215578/High_Profile_Agents_Discussing_Overthrow_Of_Hunter _Union#ixzz1XwRclHZC