NBA Lockout: Players, Owners, Agents Defend Themselves as Season Pushed to Brink

Obviously, the big news coming out of the NBA today is that the players have rejected the owners "final offer" and in turn, the players association has disbanded and have declared their intentions to file an anti-trust lawsuit against the NBA.

Whether you support the owners or the players in this heavyweight fight, there's no denying that what the players did today showed an incredible amount of fortitude and unity, and for that you have to respect them.

Meanwhile, with the firestorm that ensued, everyone with a stake in the lockout went into defense mode and turned on their public relations machine.

David Stern hit the ground running before anything substantial happened, trying to get out exactly what was in the CBA offer from the owners with an interview on Twitter last night and a youtube video outlining the proposition.

The twitterview, as it has been called, was an unmitigated failure, and that's an understatement.

While there was some useful information set out, it turned into a crass, rude display by Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, as they used it as an opportunity to give short, slightly angry responses to the questions that various players sent in.

The dynamic duo tried to paint the players as the only reason the season hasn't started, which is obviously a ridiculous way to go about this. You can see the whole thing, along with CBS Sports' analysis of each tweet here.

Then, no more than a half hour after news broke that the Players Association had rejected the offer and made a move to disband so they could sue the NBA, Stern appeared on Sportscenter for an interview/smear campaign.

He responded that the league had already filed an unfair labor practice charge against the union while taking jabs at "greedy" agents and blaming Billy Hunter for deciding to "put the season on jeopardy." While it was an informative and seemingly well thought-out response, it also came across as a "holier than thou" response, as Stern tends to appear when he makes speeches like this.

NBA agents, meanwhile (namely Mark Bartelstein), took offense to Stern's accusation of greed with a few choice words:

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"The greed that's being exhibited in this negotiation is strictly on the part of the NBA owners and nowhere else." 

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Agents aren't going to end up looking good here because they were a big part of the rallying force behind getting the players behind decertification, but you can't blame them for looking out for their best interest.

Meanwhile, the players took it upon themselves to take their argument to Twitter in a modern-day grass-roots campaign for fan support, which included myself getting into an argument with Washington Wizards center JaVale McGee.

Players around the league tried to push the blame back onto the owners, as they obviously look bad for being the ones to decline the "final offer," which may not have been the best idea.

They don't deserve all the blame, but calling out the league and airing their grievances, and outright blaming the owners for all of this looked far too reactionary. 

The thing that nobody involved seems to recognize is that nobody is winning support by making any of these moves. The fans will always see David Stern as the enemy in this situation for being the man in charge during the lockout. They will see the players as a group of millionaires arguing with a group of billionaires. And they will see agents as people always see agents.

There is nobody in this situation winning support, it's just creating varying degrees of anger towards each group.

It was a three-way dance where everyone ended up making the wrong moves and falling on their faces.

I guess we'll see them in court, rather than on one.