NBA litigation reverses NFL roles

By Lester Munson
ESPN.com
NBA owners filed two separate legal actions against the players and their union on Tuesday. The actions claim that the players are threatening to (A) decertify their union and then (B) sue the owners under antitrust laws in an attempt to end the owners' lockout. The owners filed one action in federal court in New York and the other with the National Labor Relations Board. The owners' legal actions raise questions about the bargaining process and its effect on the 2011-2012 NBA season. Here are some of the questions and their answers.

Decertification, litigation, injunctions, lawyers, judges, threats and counter-threats: This all sounds familiar. Didn't we just go through this in the NFL?

The situation is similar and the legal rules are the same. But there is an important difference. On the day their contract with the owners expired and the lockout began, the NFL players immediately decertified their union and filed an antitrust lawsuit against the owners. NFL players wanted to litigate while NFL owners wanted to negotiate. In the NBA, it is now the exact opposite. NBA players want to negotiate while NBA owners want to litigate.

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