NBA Lockout: Division Among Players an Issue, Union May Have to Concede

The NBA lockout has reached the point of no return.

NBPA President Derek Fisher has sent multiple letters preaching unity, Executive Director Billy Hunter appears to be losing the support of those he's supposed to be leading, and it's crystal clear that there is a strong divide among ownership as well.

The NBA season should have started two days ago, but instead, the two sides are competing aggressively with each other at the negotiating table, each waiting for the other to blink.

After tantalizing reports of a deal being close, the discussions once again broke down when Hunter stormed out of the room and refused to negotiate a BRI figure below 52 percent.

The owners are reportedly offering a 50-50 split of BRI under a new CBA, and while that may seem fair to some on the surface, it represents a sharp decline from where that figure previously stood. Additionally, the players have made a series of concessions on the "system issues" that have separated the sides, but the owners are still unsatisfied.

Let's make one thing clear—the owners have already won this battle, but it's clear that they're swinging for the fences to hit a grand slam rather than settling for a bases-clearing double.

Why? Because they can.

As former NHL player Bill Guerin said, this is their league, and what may be seen as fair at this point is irrelevant, because ultimately this is a deal that will be negotiated on their terms.

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When you are are in the heat of the battle, and you are fired up, you don't think what they are doing is right. But it's not about what is right or wrong—it's their league. It's theirs.

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A very interesting take from a player who went through a work stoppage that cost him a year of his career, and one that is certain to draw some interesting perspectives from the rank and file of the union.

In a word, both sides are now disjointed.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports details just how much of a rift there is within the union, and this promises to get even uglier if things continue to progress in the current manner.

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Rest assured, there’s a vast gulf in the union, and it’s growing with the passing of every day.

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And it gets worse.

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There are system issues that need to be resolved for players, but this deal gets done at 50-50, and that’s been true for a long, long time.

In the end, there are two courses for the union: Take the deal largely on the table or blow this up, decertify and lose the season fighting the NBA in the federal courts.

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Doesn't sound promising, does it?

Decertification was more of an empty threat than anything else, as it was never really going to achieve anything in terms of making progress toward a deal. Additionally, it's too late to realistically pursue that path if the players hold any hopes of actually playing basketball this season.

It seems like there is an awful lot of dissension on on the NBPA's side, doesn't it?

Well, it's not the only side that's dealing with internal division. The owners don't all appear to be on the same page, either.

With owners like Phoenix's Robert Sarver and Portland's Paul Allen reportedly taking a hard-line stance, others like Dallas' Mark Cuban, Miami's Micky Arison and Los Angeles' Jerry Buss all appear ready to play basketball.

Unfortunately for the players, the divide in ownership is something that can and will be minimized by Commissioner David Stern, while the division and subsequent conquering of the players is on display for the general public to see.

There's a deal to be done between the players and owners as long as it's negotiated on the latter's terms.

That's been the problem since long before this lockout became official, and it continues to be the major stumbling block in holding up a deal at this juncture.

Fans fill the building to see the players. They're the ones that drive the league's revenue, continue to grow the sport, and most importantly, it's their names on the back of the jerseys, T-shirts and most other memorabilia being sold.

The owners are the ones that have made questionable investments. They're the ones responsible for the hiring and firing of coaches that have some teams paying multiple people for the same job simultaneously, and it was their choice to buy an NBA team.

Hypocrisy at its finest, ladies and gentleman. Allow me to introduce you to the current state of the NBA.

Owners are clamoring for a way to limit the money that they're losing, yet the insistence on an "amnesty clause" is just another way to purge poor investments and continue to overspend.

Is a 50-50 BRI split going to stop bad contracts from being signed? Will it prevent teams from firing coaches and executives prior to their deals expiring?

Those are questions that have largely gone unanswered.

Are you surprised?

The players shouldn't have to be forced to take a deal that isn't fair, but this isn't a perfect world.

The offer from the owners is going to get worse with every passing day, and Stern has made no secret that the next offer would reflect the economic losses of a postponed season.

The NBPA executive committee is holding a meeting on Thursday to discuss its next move.