David Stern Issues Late-Night Ultimatum; NBA Players Set To Reject Latest Proposal

NBA players and owners negotiated well into last night and only stopped when Commissioner David Stern got pissed and issued an ultimatum after the players rejected the latest proposal.

"The ultimatum came after the union rejected the NBA's latest newfangled proposal of a 49-to-51 percent revenue-split band that included a major restriction on luxury-tax payers. The union called the NBA's 49-51 percent proposal a sham." Stern has essentially told the players, either take this deal—as is—by Wednesday, or it will only get worse for you. How much worse, though? a 47 percent revenue split for the players and a hard salary cap. That much worse.

The players are holding strong and calling the proposal everything from "fraudulant" to "a sham." Said union president Derek Fisher, "Today is another sad day for our fans...We've been given an ultimatum and our answer is that's not acceptable to us." Even notoriously tight-lipped union lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler got into the act claiming that "[t]hey came in here with a prearranged plan to try to strong-arm the players. They knew they were going to stick to 50-50 essentially. They were going to make almost no movement on the system and then they were going to say, 'My way or the 47 percent highway.'"

Things are not looking good for you NBA fans out there.

NBA players set to reject Wednesday ultimatum [ NY Post]