Billy Hunter, the head of the NBA players union, sent all NBA players yesterday a letter that encouraged them to consider heading overseas to play in the European professional leagues if the NBA lockout persists. More than anything I think Hunter was looking for players to start ‘voicing’ their intent to head overseas to keep the pressure on the NBA owners during these lockout negotiations:
“This lockout is intended to economically pressure our players to agree to an unfavorable collective bargaining agreement,” Hunter said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. “It is important for owners to understand that there may be significant consequences to their decision to put their own players in these difficult economic circumstances.”
Hunter said, “If the owners will not give our players a forum in which to play basketball here in the United States, they risk losing the greatest players in the world to the international basketball federations that are more than willing to employ them.”
Source [NY Times]
