The dreaded D word, which had NBA commissioner David Stern "absolutely, flat-out petrified," can be deleted from your basketball dictionary.
Decertification has been defeated, giving the sport an on-court rather than in-court future.By the comfortable and expected margin of nearly 2 to 1, the Players Association - and thus its tentative six-year collective-bargaining agreement with the league - survived a decertification election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
Although the contract must still be ratified by player representatives today in Chicago and league owners by week's end, Tuesday's announcement of a 226-134 vote (63 percent) in favor of the union was seen as a major victory in Stern's quest to ensure that actual games will be played soon.
Decertification would have allowed dissident players to sue the league, which led to six years of litigation in the NFL, and threaten part or all of the upcoming schedule that features training camp on Oct. 6 and Nov. 3 season openers.
Now, apparently safe from litigation, Stern plans to lift the 75-day-old lockout as early as next Monday provided player reps and ownership approve - in spite of inevitable challenges to the voting process through the NLRB.
"There's always questions to be (faced), but we're starting the 1995-96 season on time after the ratification," Stern said on a post-election conference call. ". . . It is a relief to have our future in the hands of the people that have a direct interest in us."
The comments were a veiled shot at Jeffrey Kessler, the New York attorney who, with megastars Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing, led the insurgency that brought about the decertification vote.
Stern, though, is aware that he'll have to endure resistance for another week. Results of the vote won't be made official by the NLRB until Sept. 19, a window for the losing side to protest various aspects of the balloting.
The most prominent charge has already been levied, a claim by Sacramento's Mitch Richmond that Stern's repeated statements about canceling the season if players voted against the union represent unfair labor practices.
"Part of the reason we filed the charge was because we anticipated the vote would turn out this way," said Dave Odom, Richmond's Chicago-based lawyer. "We'll continue with our pursuit of the charge, provide more information to the NLRB, and I wholly anticipate the election will be set aside.
"I can predict exactly what's going to happen. . . . The NLRB will investigate Mitch Richmond's and other objections, the election will be set aside and at that point the league and union will basically be forced to negotiate, or a portion of the season will be lost."
League officials don't share Odom's view. NLRB regional director Daniel Silverman has said it will take four weeks to evaluate the claims of Richmond or any subsequent protests, and the NBA isn't worried enough about any existing or potential challenges to wait for those rulings.
"At a time like this, I'm not going to participate in hypotheticals," Stern said. "We started out with the original hypothetical, which was widely reported, that Mr. Kessler had 300 votes for decertification, (that) it was a sure thing. Our players have voted. What we want to do is start the season on time."