New York — One of the byproducts of last weekend's NBA brawl could be a poisoned atmosphere in collective bargaining talks.
At a time when they should be negotiating a new labor agreement, lawyers for the NBA and the players' union are about to fight a side battle -- an appeal of the lengthy suspensions given to Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal -- that could exacerbate an already contentious relationship.
Just six years ago, the league and union went through a lengthy lockout that forced cancellation of nearly half of the 1998-99 season.
That was a low point, and nearly all the principle players from that battle -- starting with NBA commissioner David Stern and union director Billy Hunter and including most of the staff attorneys -- still hold the same jobs.
"This is a relationship that's dysfunctional at best. The well is already so poisoned, it would be difficult to poison it even more," said Robert Lanza, a labor attorney who was the lead in-house counsel for the Players Assn. during the 1998-99 lockout. "A lot of issues that should be dealt with as a team are not dealt with that way."
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