Fight over NBA Suspensions May be Headed to Court: According to Peter May of the Boston Globe, the NBA Players Association will file a second appeal of the suspensions of the three Pacers players. The fight is heated on many fronts, including who has the power to make the final decision. The league contends that this was an on-court incident, and thus, per the CBA, the final authority rests with Commissioner Stern. The NBPA, on the other hand, is attempting to have arbitrator Roger Kaplan assert jurisdiction and rule on the case.



There are several issues from this dispute that could end up in federal court. The first is: Was this an on-court incident? This is not the issue that the union wants to fight, because it is a factual inquiry. This means that a judge could not rule on it without some kind of trial and trials take time. Chances are good that the suspensions would already be served by the time a trial was concluded.



Another issue the union could fight is: Can the commissioner have such unilateral power? This, too, is difficult for the NBPA because the language of the CBA is very clear. The argument would be either that (1) the agreement is unconscionable or (2) the language is not as clear as the league would believe, leaving some room for interpretation. The union will also try to argue that the punishments do not fit the crime, citing the 10-game suspension Vernon Maxwell received for going into the stands and attacking a fan.



Either way, this could wind up being an important case for labor law and sports law. Or, it could fade into nothing. We will see.

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