NBA Lockout Video: Watch David Stern Blast Players' Futile Negotiating Ploy

David Stern took his disappointment and anger public immediately after the NBA players decided to disband their union and made it known that they will file an antitrust lawsuit against his league.

You would be ridiculous to listen to him and believe the things he is saying.

The league gave the players until today to accept their latest CBA offer and tried their best to pressure them into taking a bad deal.

It obviously backfired, and Stern is livid.

The commissioner is saying that the players have constantly threatened to disband and sue “despite the NBA’s good faith bargaining.”

He really hammered home his point by stating, “Frankly, by this, I would say, irresponsible action at this late date, Billy Hunter has decided to put the season in jeopardy and deprive his union members of an enormous pay day.”

This is obviously more propaganda by the league commissioner.

Of course the players are missing out on an “enormous pay day,” as all professional athletes are paid well, but the league wanted them to give up seven percent of the total basketball related income they were making before the lockout.

They would have been agreeing to an enormous pay cut.

Now the league is putting an even crazier deal on the table that is a 47-53 BRI split in favor of the owners rather than a 50-50 deal on the table today and not even close to the 57-43 the players received previously.

Obviously, the players will have none of that.

Stern criticized the players’ move to decertify, saying that they are “hell-bent on self-destruction.”

What happens now?

According to an ESPN report,

"

Hunter said the NBPA was in the process of converting to a trade association and that all players will be represented in a class-action suit against the NBA by attorneys Jeffrey Kessler and David Boies. The two attorneys were on opposite sides of the NFL labor dispute—Kessler working for the players, Boies for the league.

"

This is all going to happen very quickly and the mudslinging is going to continue in the media as both parties try to sway public opinion in their favor.

Both sides are bleeding money right now and need a deal to go through, the owners are just hoping to outlast the players because they are a smaller, tighter-knit group of people with much more money.

We will see if the federal courts will find justice in this or if an actual fair deal for both sides will come down the pipeline and rescue the NBA season. But right now, it is not looking likely. 

Video Credit: ESPN.com