NEW YORK, November 14, 2011 – NBA Commissioner David Stern
has issued
the following statement:

“At a bargaining session in February 2010, Jeffrey
Kessler, counsel
for the union, threatened that the players would abandon
the collective
bargaining process and start an antitrust lawsuit against
our teams if they
did not get a bargaining resolution that was acceptable to
them.

“In anticipation of this day, the NBA filed an
unfair labor practice
charge before the National Labor Relations Board asserting
that, by virtue
of its continued threats, the union was not bargaining in
good faith. We
also began a litigation in federal court in anticipation
of this same
bargaining tactic.

“The NBA has negotiated in good faith throughout the
collective
bargaining process, but — because our revised bargaining
proposal was not
to its liking – the union has decided to make good on Mr.
Kessler’s threat.

“There will ultimately be a new collective
bargaining agreement, but
the 2011-12 season is now in jeopardy.”

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