The National Basketball Association was sued
by New York Knicksforward Carmelo Anthony over
claims the league conspired to force players to agree to a “massive reduction”
in compensation.
The complaint in federal court in Oakland , California, was filed yesterday by Anthony and
four other NBA athletes on behalf of all
players under contract with the association. The class- action complaint names
the 30 NBA member teams as defendants. A
similar group lawsuit was filed against the league by Caron Butler of the Dallas Mavericks in federal court in Minneapolis.
NBA players on Nov. 14 dissolved their union, a first for the group, to
allow for antitrust lawsuits against the league after negotiations over a new
labor agreement collapsed. The sides were negotiating over how to split money
from a league that had about $4.3 billion in
revenue last season. The NBA season was to start
Nov. 1.
Anthony says the league’s lockout is an “illegal group boycott” that
violates federal antitrust law, according to the complaint.
“Defendants have jointly agreed and conspired to boycott the players
even after their disclaimer in an effort to coerce plaintiffs and all NBA players to agree to a new onerous system
of anticompetitive player restraints and a massive reduction in compensation,”
according to the complaint. “Defendants also agreed and conspired to fix the
prices, terms and conditions of future player contracts.”
Mike Bass, an NBA
spokesman, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail message seeking comment
about the lawsuits.
Four-Time All-Star
Anthony, 27, a four-time All-Star who now plays for the Knicks after
spending the first 7 1/2 seasons of his NBA
career with the Denver Nuggets, has a contract worth $65 million through the 2014-2015 season,
according to the complaint.
The union’s disclaiming of interest, as the strategy is known, strips
the NBA of antitrust protection that comes
with a collective bargaining agreement and places the fight over how to divide
the league’s annual revenue before the courts.
National Football League players, led by Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, similarly disavowed their own union after the
collapse of labor negotiations in March and immediately prior to their
launching a lawsuit accusing the richest U.S. pro sports
league of antitrust violations.
Anthony’s lawyer is David Boies of Boies, Schiller
& Flexner LLP, who represented Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 U.S.
NBA Commissioner David Stern canceled games through Dec. 15 and said the
league needs 30 days after an agreement to resume regular-season play, allowing
for contract signings and training camp.
The only other time labor unrest forced the NBA to lose games was in
1998-99, when the season was shortened to 50 games
by a lockout. The two sides agreed on a contract in early January 1999, signed
the agreement on Jan. 20 and began play on Feb. 5.
The NBA’s 30 teams generated more
than $1.1 billion in gate receipts during the 2010-11 campaign, according to
the annual postseason audit conducted by the league and the players’ union.
The players and the league had been in talks for about 2 1/2 years, and
the league locked the players out on July 1 when the last collective bargaining
agreement expired.
Gordon, Tolliver
Both lawsuits seek group status for
all players currently under NBA contract, a
finding that the NBA actions violate federal law, treble money damages and a
court order barring the conduct.
The case is Anthony v. NBA, 11-05525, U.S. District Court, Northern
District of California (Oakland
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