NBA players’ case dismissed by judge

MINNEAPOLIS—The NBA legal fight between players and club owners officially ended on Monday after US District Judge Patrick Schiltz dismissed an anti-trust lawsuit.

Photo from nba.com

Players and club owners asked the Minnesota judge to wipe out the filing in the wake of the collective bargaining agreement approved last week in votes by team owners and players.

NBA training camps and free agency dealmaking began last Friday. A lockout-shortened season of 66 games for each team rather than 82 will begin on December 25, about eight weeks later than originally planned.

A group of NBA players including New York’s Carmelo Anthony, Phoenix’s Steve Nash and Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant filed an amended lawsuit against team owners on November 21, combining it with a withdrawn lawsuit filed earlier in California.

The move was made mainly by the players as a precautionary play for leverage in contract talks. It required decertifying the players’ union and that meant the union had to be recertified last week before a vote could come on the deal.