NBA Lockout: The Only Man Who Can Save the Season?
Jim Quinn may be the only man who can save the NBA 2011-2012 season as the NBA lockout continues to threaten to strip away the regular season week-by-week.
Quinn, chairman of a 500-lawyer global litigation practice for Weil, Gotshal & Manages LLP, was once considered a rival of David Stern when he helped NBA players gain higher salaries and helped restructure the rules of the draft and free agency in the Oscar Robertson antitrust suit in 1976. Quinn is known for spending long nights with union director Billy Hunter and David Stern to save the NBA season after a 1998-99 lockout took place.
The litigator also helped the NFL resolve its labor issues, working with the NFLPA as an unofficial litigator. However, Quinn told NBA.com that Stern only recently contacted him to offer congratulations concerning an unrelated case.
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Yet, the former NBA negotiator told NBA.com that he was willing to help the situation if given the opportunity.
"I'd be happy to help if I could," Quinn said."I got involved [13] years ago to try to get the thing resolved, and we did get it done. They seem to be pretty far apart right now."
The New York Daily News confirmed just how far apart the two sides involved in the lockout are, announcing that two more weeks were being canceled on Monday night. The announcement came after Stern announced that the games falling between Nov. 1-14 would have to be cancelled, totaling a full four weeks of cleared games from the regular season schedule.
Before the first two weeks of cancellations were announced by Stern, Quinn told NBA.com that he believed the lockout would be an arduous process that would take place through the season.
"I expect that the lockout will stay in place sometime into the season," Quinn said. "And possibly through the end of the year. Then something will get done. I'd be surprised if it's done earlier. I think it will be somewhat of a replay of last time."
