But there are also downsides to de-certification, such as leaving players singled out to battle with the union over such disputes as pensions, revenue sharing, insurance, etc. What's more, individual players would be left to their own devices in working out contracts with individual teams, and without the backing of a CBA and a strong union presence, things could get ugly. This might not tend to matter in the cases of superstars, but when teams no longer have to pay all veterans at least a certain amount, things could get ugly.
What's more, Europe and Asia will probably start playing a bigger factor in the NBA economy, as in more players/superstars from those regions coming to the NBA because of the destruction of the salary cap. This could be a problem for a lot of NBA regulars: there are only so many spots in the NBA, and when you not only have to contend with superstars already in the league, but also highly-sought superstars entering the league, your footing in bargaining with individual teams/owners becomes more and more unstable.
So yeah, this could be a huge blow to the way the NBA does business, but it would be an irrevocable sore spot with remaining owners and fans, and the fallout from such a blow would dwarf the perceived problems with the current CBA, and mainly there is one huge thing I think the players would be forgetting: proving collusion against certain players by the owners without a strong union watchdog would be very, very hard.
