Image Source: NBA Buzz

BY MOLLY HULSEY

Monday, David Stern said the NBA is entering a “nuclear winter.”

Tuesday, it experienced its first major storm.

NBA players filed an antitrust suit against the league, bringing the two sides back to court... just not the court everyone was hoping for.

“The complaint in federal court... was filed by [Carmelo Anthony] and four other NBA players on behalf of all players under contract with the association and names the 30 NBA member teams as defendants. Anthony says the league's lockout is an ‘illegal group boycott’ that violates federal antitrust law, according to the complaint.”

A separate lawsuit was also filed earlier Tuesday by NBA players Caron Butler, Ben Gordon, Anthony Tolliver and Derrick Williams, and The Boston Globe reports... that could be just the beginning.

“Other lawsuits are expected now that the collective bargaining process has collapsed, and the players are no longer protected by a union. Eventually, all the lawsuits will have to be combined, with the players and the owners each arguing to have the case heard in the jurisdiction it favors.”

The Player’s Association has disclaimed, allowing them to file antitrust litigation. They have not yet decertified, which is a much more intricate and permanent process. ESPN’s Marc Stein says that - more drastic - action is still a possibility.

“The group that was working on decertification, collecting 200-some signatures to file a petition and call for a decertification vote, last night they were still exploring their options to see if, even with the union taking this action to dissolve, could they still go ahead with decertification.”

Not all players are happy with the NBPA’s techniques, and a writer for CBS Sports says the real challenge could be keeping everyone from turning against each other.

“The task at hand for the players now is convincing all of its members to retain faith in the disclaimer of interest strategy despite no clear promise of an end in sight. Without some move towards picking up talks with the league, it's an impossible task. The panicking crowd... is only bound to get louder.”

According to the Mercury News, resolving the lockout will happen now or never, and it’s the owners’ turn to step up.

“The truth is, with only a few weeks left on the clock to save the season, both sides have used up almost every bargaining device and bit of their margins for error... Either the lawsuit prompts the owners into slight concessions or it provokes them into shutting it all down. It depends on the next move by the owners... Everything does.”

While the sides still have several weeks to negotiate and still play a shortened season, Sports Illustrated’s legal analyst is concerned they might give up much sooner than that.

“It’s a real concern now because we’re in the second week of November. The NBA could conclude that it doesn’t want to wait around for the legal process to work itself out - some of the season has already been missed, it wouldn’t shock me if the league canceled the season much earlier than when the season was on the brink of being canceled in ‘98-’99 in early January.”

The NBA also announced Tuesday that games through December 15 are officially canceled. No new discussions between the sides are scheduled.