NBA

Knicks’ Anthony, Billups file lawsuit

It’s Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups vs. the NBA.

Attorneys for the locked-out players filed a 25-page federal antitrust lawsuit last night in California, setting off commissioner David Stern’s worst nightmare.

Star lead attorney David Boies ripped Stern last night in the Harlem offices of the disbanded union for “overplaying his hand’’ and said he hopes the NBA will come to its senses and he won’t have to “litigate this out.’’

“There is one reason and one reason only the season is in jeopardy,’’ Boies said. “The owners locked out the players.’’

The two Knicks, Anthony and Billups, are among five named plaintiffs, joining Kevin Durant of the Thunder, Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs, and Leon Powe of the Grizzlies.

Boies said Anthony and Billups were “interested in participating.’’

As reported in The Post last week, the NBA had planned to cancel games through Dec. 15. The league made that official yesterday.

In a separate antitrust suit filed against the NBA in Minnesota, Ben Gordon of the Bulls, Anthony Tolliver of the Timberwolves and Caron Butler of the Mavericks are named as plaintiffs. Boies said he hoped the two suits could be combined.

Boies said it is possible a summary judgment can be rendered before killing the season, but hopes instead the NBA will attempt to settle the suits and return to bargaining. Indeed, Stern has called this act a “negotiating tactic’’ and won’t fall for it.

“We hope it’s not necessary to go to trial,’’ Boies said.

Boies, who forms the legal team with New York attorney Jeffrey Kessler, predicted at some point the NBA will realize it does not want this litigation to continue and will try to settle.

“The judge could set up a mediation,’’ Boies said. “But it takes two to tango. We have to have someone on the other side to negotiate with and not say, ‘My way or the highway.’ That will stop sometime, I predict. There will come a time when the league faces reality and faces the reality of the exposure they have under the antitrust laws. I can’t tell you when that’s going to happen. But I tell you it will happen.’’

Manhattan antitrust attorney Jonathan Shapiro, who is not involved in the case but worked with Kessler on NBA and NFL suits, said Stern should not be surprised this happened.

“He uses ‘negotiating tactic’ as a curse word, but that’s the union’s bargaining tool, the way the law is,’’ Shapiro told The Post. “History shows the threat of litigation is what brings the parties together.’’

The lawsuit says Stern wrote the players Nov. 6, saying they had three days to accept the NBA’s proposal “or otherwise face increasingly punitive proposals.’’

“Did Stern make a mistake?’’ Boies said. “It turned out to be a mistake. If you’re in the poker game and you bluff and the bluff works, you win. Someone calls their bluff, you lose. I think the owners overplayed their hands.”

Stern says disbanding the union will result in “a nuclear winter’’ and disparaged Boies, who represented the NFL owners in the last lockout. Now he’s on the other side.

Boies said there is no conflict. “I don’t think that’s going to be an issue,’’ Boies said. “It’s more reflective of the NBA’s desire to see this lawsuit [go away].’’

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said, “We haven’t seen Mr. Boies’ complaint yet, but it’s a shame that the players have chosen to litigate instead of negotiate.’’