NEW YORK (AP) — Union executive director Billy Hunter says he expects a Minnesota magistrate judge to mediate the players’ lawsuit against the NBA, as the court did in the NFL’s labor dispute.
Hunter specifically mentioned U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, the court-appointed mediator in the NFL talks, on Tuesday. Boylan is not the magistrate assigned to the NBA antitrust suit, although the district judge has the discretion to appoint a different magistrate to mediate.
Hunter says “that could possibly occur as early as next week.” He says one reason the players’ lawyers decided to consolidate two suits against the NBA in Minnesota is that the district court there routinely uses magistrates to mediate cases.
Different groups of players filed separate lawsuits in California and Minnesota last week. On Monday, lawyers withdrew the California complaint and filed a consolidated, amended suit in Minnesota.
