Players file antitrust suits against NBA

NBA players filed two antitrust complaints Tuesday against the league and 30 owners.

The first lawsuit was filed in District Court in Minneapolis, with Ben Gordon, Caron Butler, Anthony Tolliver and Derrick Williams listed as the plaintiffs. The second suit was filed in District Court in Northern California, with Knicks stars Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups along with Kevin Durant headlining a list of plaintiffs that also included Kawhi Leonard and Leon Powe.

"We hope it's not necessary to go to trial," the players' lead lawyer, David Boies, told reporters in a news conference after the complaint was filed.

The intention is to push the owners into offering a better deal to the players after the collective bargaining process broke down when commissioner David Stern last week presented a CBA proposal with an ultimatum. If the deal were not accepted, the next proposal would be much worse. The players rejected the proposal and rather than give the owners the chance to present the worse offer, the union opted to file a Notice of Disclaimer on Monday, which effectively dissolved the union and ended collective bargaining.

Said NBA 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."

According to the language in the lawsuit filed in Minnesota, is to get the court to agree that the owners' lockout violates antitrust laws as outlined in the Sherman Act, and claim "treble damages" (triple the amount of player losses) as a result of the work stoppage.

With AP