NBA Lockout: David Stern Gives Players No Choice But to Accept Latest Offer

David Stern has pushed the doomsday button on the 2011-12 NBA season, and the players have no choice but to give in and save what's left of a tarnished campaign.

The NBPA has fought the good fight, but it has become stunningly obvious that the deal is not getting any better, and Stern made it clear to the beleaguered media members in attendance that this is the reality everyone is staring in the face.

After hours of talks over the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the players allegedly rejected a series of proposals accepted by the owners and suggested by a federal mediator. It was the latest public relations body blow to the players, who have had to deal with the perception that their greed has been stalling what promises to be a thrilling season.

That isn't to say that the owners haven't had to deal with the same criticisms, but when tweets started leaking out that a deal was very close, fans got excited, and now, the players are the villains. Stern has given the players until Wednesday to accept the current deal, and if they do not, the proposal will get significantly worse.

How bad could it be? This bad.

If Derek Fisher and Billy Hunter think that the Michael Corleone of the NBA is bluffing, they should try him, and watch game checks continue to slip away. This is the point of no return, and no one should see it any differently. Players are foolishly pushing for decertification, a move that should have happened months ago, and if it goes down, it will kill the season.

This is the deal, and now is the time to take it. 

Both Fisher and Hunter should have known that this was a fight they could not win, and Stern has won the war. He has gotten a proposal from a federal mediator that was satisfactory to the majority of the owners. Now, the players have slapped this down, denying Stern's claims in the process. Now they are the villains and they are the ones who will be blamed for more lost games.

The players can continue their public relations war, but exhausted, frustrated fans don't want to hear it. I'm sorry, but Twitter apologies aren't enough (my condolences, Spencer Hawes).

Stop pleading with fans for forgiveness and put pen to paper to end the lockout. It's time for the union's leaders to get down to brass tax and let everyone know that this is as good as it's going to get. Now is not the time to be squabbling over a percentage point or two, while the players lose millions in game checks.

Revenue can be made up, games cannot, and Stern has put all of the pressure on the players. No amount of media posturing can wiggle the union out of this corner. Not only has Stern broken the players behind closed doors, he crushed them in the public eye.

But despite Stern's pointed comments, the foolish players haven't realized the war is over, threatening to ruin everything to continue a losing battle. 

If the union decertifies, spitting in the face of the leadership, it will kill the season, and all good faith will have been lost in the eyes of the fans. The fans don't want to choose sides, they just want basketball, and will direct their scorn at anyone who stands in the way of it.

Now, four days stand between us and the end of all things basketball as we know them. The players hold everyone's fate in their hands, and Stern knows he has them beat, one way or another.

A splintered union threatens to tear everything to shreds, and create heartbreaking situations like these:

Won't someone please think of the children? This is where we stand in early November—all or nothing, and mere days will decide the NBA's fate. When you consider that the players have split into two divided factions, it's a terrifying prospect to say the least.

If Wednesday comes and goes, and the union decides to burn the league to the ground, don't worry Mr. Dery. You can sit your son down and show him the latest propaganda piece form the players, who have thumped their chest and proudly proclaimed that basketball never stops.

But Stern knows better, and he's ready to let the union take money out of their own pockets in the short and long term. Fisher can stand in front of the media and cry foul and say that the deal isn't fair, but this isn't utopia. 

Regardless of what happened, the players weren't going to be happy with everything in the new CBA. This is the reality of any negotiation, and it seemingly hasn't sunk in for the NBPA. Fisher evidently lives in a fantasy land, where he believes he can get anything and everything he wants out of this latest CBA.

Here is the reality of the situation: this is as good as it gets, and if he were to bring this proposal to the players, they'd probably take it. Instead, Fisher has taken his ball and gone home, forcing Stern and the owners to paint him into a corner.

In the aftermath of this latest crushing blow to the 2011-12 season, we stand on the edge of losing everything we hold near and dear as basketball fans. I hope you enjoyed the 2011 Playoffs, because that may be the last live basketball we see for a long, long time, and the blood will be on the players' hands.