Nba Labor Deal Has Gone From Horrible To Awful, Agent Claims

The latest labor agreement between the National Basketball Association and its players union will lead to the end of free agency, an agent involved in the movement to decertify the union said Friday.

“This deal is designed to force players to stay with their own teams,” Marc Fleisher said after reading details of the six-year agreement, which the union sent to players Friday.

“A player has no leverage with his own team if he can’t move. The old deal is a soft cap; this deal is a hard cap. The deal has gone from horrible to awful. It really is the end of free agency.”

The agreement, Fleisher added, gives players unrestricted free agency when their contracts expire. “So what?” he said. “There’s nowhere to go except to stay with your own team.”

The union prepared seven pages of the “principal terms” of the agreement, but the players who have filed an antitrust lawsuit sent a letter to union officials seeking “full disclosure.”

“An outline is not good enough when our futures are at stake,” said the letter from the office of Jeffrey Kessler, the players’ lawyer.Simon Gourdine, the union’s executive director, did not return a telephone call seeking comment on the reaction to the agreement.