LeBron James says do not cancel season. Photo credit: J. Tyge O'Donnell/LVSportsBiz.com

LVSportsBiz.com Legal Analysis: May 10 Is Key Date For NBA To Avoid Cancelling Season

By Dan Lust for LVSportsBiz.com

May 10 is the first hurdle to avoid a cancelled NBA season. I had the great pleasure of covering this topic for media outlets across the country headlined by national segments for ESPN, CBS and FOX Sports.

And now, Lakers superstar LeBron James is weighing in.

LeBron James (right)

Reports have started to circulate that there’s mounting pressure from teams and agents to cancel. In response, James took to Twitter.

“Saw some reports about execs and agents wanting to cancel season??? That’s absolutely not true. Nobody I know saying anything like that. As soon as it’s safe we would like to finish our season. I’m ready and our team is ready. Nobody should be canceling anything.”

Even though James is one of the most powerful voices in the NBA, he doesn’t have the unilateral ability to save the season. That is because, per the NBA’s Force Majeure clause, the call on whether to cancel the season lies with owners, not the players.

Under this clause, the “Doomsday Provision,” owners have until May 10th (60 days from the NBA’s suspension) to cancel and void remaining payment owed to players. The season could be cancelled later on, but players would argue that they need to be paid in full since owners would have missed this deadline.

With the calendar having turned from April to May, we must be mindful of this upcoming major obstacle to resume. The topic is relevant for Las Vegas because the market has been mentioned as a potential hub for the NBA to use to possibly play out the season. It’s just been talk for now and there have been no official comments from the NBA.

Note: If they cancel after May 10 they can try to void payments to players but the NBPA would argue that they missed their window to do so per the CBA. Meanwhile, the 25 percent decrease gives the NBA a path to further delay, but would be rendered moot if the owners opt to trigger Force Majuere.

Also, to trigger Force Majeure means ripping up the CBA and forcing both sides to come to terms on a new deal. I have to think the NBA wants to avoid that, but still can’t rule it out entirely.


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Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.