Nba Players Convene

The National Basketball Players Association will begin a series of regional meetings today regarding the tentative agreement with the NBA, according to The New York Times.

The newspaper also said the leaders of the movement to decertify the union will hold a news conference today in Chicago to offer their views on the proposed six-year collective bargaining agreement, announced Aug. 8 minutes before the union’s midnight deadline.

Union executive director Simon Gourdine told the newspaper that he and three other union officials will meet in pairs with players in 17 cities on eight dates through Aug. 28. The first meetings are scheduled today at Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix and Oakland, Calif., followed by sessions Friday at Denver and Chicago.

Players will decide on two voting days - Aug. 30 and Sept. 7 - whether to accept the contract or to dissolve their union and go through the federal courts to end the lockout and get a better deal.

More than 400 eligible players can cast ballots either day at regional offices of the National Labor Relations Board. A simple majority will decide both the fate of the union and the revised labor pact, and results will be announced Sept. 12.