NBA lockout: Billy Hunter suggests players start their own league

While the NBA lockout languidly persists, Billy Hunter has an idea to get the players back on the court.

“Maybe we can start our own league,” said Hunter, the executive director of what used to be the NBA players union during a panel Wednesday evening, according to author Touré via SLAM.

"There’s talk of getting a TV deal and creating a new league but it’d have to be with a network that’s unafraid to cross the NBA."

Forget the owners and their proposed 50-50 split of basketball-related income, apparently some of the players think that they can do it all on their own.

Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire seems to be on board.

Last month he told Sporting News: "It's just a matter of us strategically coming up with a plan, a blueprint and putting it together. So we'll see how this lockout goes. If it goes one or two years, then we've got to start our own league."

Negotiating venues and a television deal, however, could be a very lengthy process. But perhaps this idea, if it takes on real momentum, could be one of the impetuses that could spur an agreement with the owners.

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-- Melissa Rohlin

Photo: Billy Hunter, right, with Derek Fisher. Credit: Shannon Stapleton / Reuters.