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NBA responds to players filing two lawsuits

Print | Comments () Posted by Gary Washburn Globe Staff November 15, 2011 11:42 PM

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By Gary Washburn, Globe staff

New NBA players lawyer David Boies called a news conference and announced that individual players such as Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and former Celtic Leon Powe are plaintiffs in lawsuits filed in Minnesota and Oakland, Calif., the players' first litigation move since they disbanded as a union.

Those two locales have historically favored unions in anti-trust lawsuits, but Boies told reporters that he hopes the NBA decides to settle the case and avoid litigation because the players have a legitimate case that the owners were not negotiating in good faith.

Here was the NBA's response thanks to league spokesman Tim Frank.

"We haven't seen Mr. Boies complaint yet but it's a shame that the players have chosen to litigate instead of negotiate. They warned us from the early days of these negotiations that they would sue us if we didn't satisfy them at the bargaining table and they appear to have followed through on their threats."

Meanwhile, the league has officially canceled games through Dec. 15 but that was a foregone conclusion since commissioner David Stern said it would take 30 days to begin a season when the sides came to an agreement.