Abstract

     On January 24, 1995, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the "Court"), in National Basketball Association v. Williams,l partially affirmed a decision of the United States District Court
for the Southern District of New York, holding that (i) federal anti-trust laws have no application to the collective bargaining negotiations
between players and teams affiliated with the National Basketball As-
sociation. In so affirming, the court decided, based on the inapplica-
bility of antitrust law, that it need not address the second holding of
the District Court: that (ii) the terms of the expired collective bargain-
ing agreement providing for the "College Draft,"s "Right of First Re-
fusal," and "Revenue Sharing/Salary Cap System" do not violate
antitrust laws because they survive scrutiny under the Rule of Rea-
son. The court instead focused on the applicability of federal labor
law to multi-employer bargaining organizations generally and to the
practices of the National Basketball Association Teams specifically.
Such an application was found to be strongly supported by legislative
history, clear congressional intent, and a lack of antitrust challenges to
multi-employer bargaining. These factors, the court concluded,
amounted to a strong indication of Congress' approval and promotion
of multi-employer bargaining organizations and practices as consistent
with the best interests of national labor policy.