NBA players filed two antitrust lawsuits against the NBA on Tuesday, as the 138-day labor dispute moved to the courts.
One complaint was filed in a Northern California court, said Billy Hunter, who was executive director of the union before it disbanded Monday. The plaintiffs in the case will be New York Knicks stars Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, Memphis’ Leon Powe and rookie Kawhi Leonard, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The second action, in Minnesota, names players Caron Butler, Ben Gordon, Anthony Tolliver and Derrick Williams as plaintiffs, CBS Sports reported.
Players’ lawyer David Boies said more lawsuits could be filed and they could be combined at some point.
“There’s one reason and one reason only that the season is in jeopardy,” Boies said Tuesday at the Harlem headquarters of the former union. “And that is because the owners have locked out the players and have maintained that lockout for several months … The players are willing to start playing tomorrow if [the owners] end the boycott.”
The players allege that the owners ended the collective bargaining process after NBA commissioner David Stern issued an ultimatum on the owners’ proposal last week.
They are seeking damages that would amount to triple the losses they incurred during the lockout, the Journal reported. A collective bargaining agreement would be separate from the suit.
In a statement, the league said it had not yet seen the complaint but said, “It’s a shame that the players have chosen to litigate instead of negotiate.”
Talks broke down between the two sides when they could not agree on how to split the league’s $4 billion in revenue and systematic issues like salary cap structure and ability for players to change teams more freely.
Separately Tuesday, an NBA spokesman confirmed that games through Dec. 15 have been canceled.