NBA cancels games through Dec. 15

The latest salvo in the ongoing NBA lockout has been fired. On Tuesday, the league began notifying teams that more games will be cancelled as a result of the labour dispute. That means 324 games have been erased from the schedule, which equates to about a quarter of the season. This latest move by the league comes on the heels of the players rejecting the owners' latest offer, and filing a class action lawsuit against the league, alleging antitrust violations. The players are seeking damages of about 6-billion dollars, triple the amount of salaries for this season. The athletes claim the lockout constitutes an illegal group boycott, a price fixing agreement and the NBA's latest offer would have wiped out the competitive market for most players. The league's latest proposal called for a 50-50 split of basketball related income between the owners and players and would have provided for a 72-game season to start on Dec. 15. But the players remain at odds with the owners over rules governing contracts and free agency. Players received 57-percent of basketball income from the last bargaining deal which the NBA alleges resulted in a loss of 300 million dollars last season with 22 of its 30 teams coming in under the break even line. The league locked out the players on July 1.