NBA Lockout: Players Reject Latest Offer, Bury NBA Fans' Hopes for Labor Peace

The players came out and told us all how bad things were on Tuesday. Their words were measured and their tone was calm, but we all know how the owners and David Stern will receive this rejection. Say goodbye to the NBA season. 

The players met with one another on Tuesday, one day before an ultimatum set by commissioner David Stern. The answer to that ultimatum was very clear. Shove it. 

Ken Berger tweeted the words of player's representative Derek Fisher. 

The players are ready to negotiate but are not ready to sign a contract that they had no say in shaping. The ultimatum is a far cry from the benefits that the players currently enjoy. The fact that owners are threatening a worse offer with this rejection should hardly scare the players. 

All of this is to say that we are about to see more games canceled and possibly the end to the season. I just don't see how any part of the season can be salvaged. 

The owners and players are far apart and the owners are about to back that chasm wider. If the owners think they can push the players around, they are sorely mistaken. Judging by Adrian Wojnarowski's tweet, the players have renewed strength in the midst of the ultimatum. 

Berger also tweeted Fisher's response to a possibly worse deal. 

That is really all the players can do. It would be very easy for them to accept a crummy deal and call it a day. The union knows that they are on the cusp of losing a season's worth of paychecks. 

They have to know that the next deal will be worse, and will thus be summarily be dismissed. Each offer will get worse and worse, but all they can do is handle their decision, which is to accept an offer that is fair to them. 

We have traversed away from something so obvious. It is time for concessions so we end up with an offer that is fair for both sides. 

I am sick with what I just read between the line of this latest rejection. The players will not be duped into a bad deal, and that means the season is a goner.