(Image Source: CBS Sports)

BY KAVEH KAGHAZI

ANCHOR MARC STEIDLER

With no end in sight for the NBA lockout, is it time for players to start a league of their own?

On Wednesday, NBA Players Association Executive Director Billy Hunter hinted at the notion.

“Maybe we can start our own league. There are faculties where we can do that…There’s talk of getting a TV deal and creating a new league.”

But a writer from CBS Sports says this so-called players league would be a big mistake.

“...When the players have attempted to put together anything larger in scale, it hasn't worked from an economics perspective … Forming their own league -- however loosely you want to define that term -- is much more difficult than it sounds.”

On Monday, players rejected the latest offer from the league and its owners. Four players have already filed antitrust lawsuits against the NBA. With no basketball on the horizon, an analyst from The New York Times says its time for players to send a message to the league.

“I’d like to see the players take their game on the road for the next few months. Forget the traditional NBA season, and create a four or five month season of their own. Send a very clear message to owners: Compromise? Yes. But there will be no complete and total surrender.”

Hunter said if the league were to be formed, it would need to find new venues and a TV deal from a network unafraid to cross the NBA. A writer from BET says it would be difficult, but not impossible.

“...It could work on a much smaller scale with less than a dozen teams and the league’s top stars. College basketball arenas may be available and a couple of the networks might be willing to throw around some millions on the real chance that interest would be widespread.”

A writer from NBC Sports says from a financial standpoint, they have no shot of going independent.

“I’ve become more convinced than ever that the players need the NBA, too. They need the marketing, the building, the ability to create a professional event — the league builds the stage the players are on.”

Tuesday would have been the first payday for NBA players. According to CNBC, the average NBA player lost $220,000 as a result of the stalemate with the owners.