Players file antitrust suits against NBA

(My Sportsbook) - One day after rejecting the latest offer from owners, NBA players filed antitrust lawsuits against the league in two courts Tuesday.

The suit filed in Minneapolis lists NBA players Caron Butler, Ben Gordon, Anthony Tolliver and would-be rookie Derrick Williams as plaintiffs.

It accuses the NBA of conspiring to limit the players' ability to "provide and/or market their services" through an unlawful lockout and price-fixing arrangement.

In the Northern District of California, another suit featured reigning NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant among its plaintiffs.

The players union began breaking up on Monday, opening the door for antitrust litigation against the NBA much like what happened in the earliest days of the NFL lockout.

The NBA's lockout is more than four months old -- the season was supposed to start November 1 -- and the prospects of a new collective bargaining agreement are looking bleaker with every passing day.

NBA players on Monday rejected a revised offer presented by the league last week, despite being warned in a memo by commissioner David Stern that future proposals would be more beneficial to owners.

Union chief Billy Hunter said players weren't prepared to accept ultimatums from the league and felt they had given enough.

Besides arguing that the league is engaged in an unlawful boycott and price- fixing, plaintiffs in the Minneapolis suit allege in their complaint, among other things, that the lockout eliminates competition in the free agent marketplace for players no longer under contract.

It also prevents rookie players from seeking their first contract and allows the NBA to conspire to refuse to negotiate with players and to honor the contracts they already have.

The NBA, in anticipation of an antitrust lawsuit, had already filed an unfair labor practice charge before the National Labor Relations Board saying that players were not bargaining in good faith.

A message posted on the players' union website reads: "Error 404: Basketball Not Found. Please be patient as we work on resolving this. We are sorry for the inconvenience." A similar message appeared on the NFL players' union website early in that league's lockout.

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