Despite the optimism surrounding the negotiation between NBA and NBPA, Carmelo Anthony suddenly made a surprising comment about the CBA deal. Anthony said that he was pessimist the league and its player asssociation can reach the agreement before the Dec. 15 deadline.
Anthony is the vice president of the NBPA and he knows the negotiation process between the NBA and NBPA has been going well for the past few months. However in an interview with the ESPN he made the surprising statement out of the blue.
"I'm skeptical of something getting done," he said after the New York Knicks practice session in Los Angeles. ”We had something so close. We were supposed to have a deal done weeks ago, and for this to happen at the 25th hour is tough."
The New York Knicks forward said that the recent development had put a dent in the negotiation process. However, he did not elaborate details about that recent developments.
There have been some complication in the negotiation between the league the players association, and one of them is regarding the licensing agreement. In the NBA, the league control the licensing, while players association want to obtain that licensing in their hand. NBPA wanted to have similar role as NFL Players Association which control the NFL licensing.
Despite that complication, president of the NBPA Chris Paul is very optimist that the deal will be reached soon. Although there is some complication with the latest negotiation, but he has optimism that the deal will soon be finalized.
The snag was also noted by SLAM Online as the source of Anthony’s skepticism. It may put a stumbling block for negotiation as the deadline is approaching for the NBA and NBPA to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement on Dec. 15. If either side opts out of the agreement, they have until June 30 next year until the current CBA expires and make a new deal.
Watch the conversation between NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts regarding the collective bargaining agreement below:
