Hunter Urges NBA Players to Stay Strong

NBA players' union executive director Billy Hunter sent a letter to players Tuesday telling them to stand firm against the owners offer of a 50-50 revenue split, according to ESPN.com.

"Your role is an important one," Hunter told players in the letter, obtained by ESPN.com. "The owners need to know that we will stand strong until they are ready to finish negotiating a fair deal -- not one reached with preconditions, and not one forced down our throat with the threat of missed paychecks."

The players received 57% of the revenue share a year ago, and Hunter reminded the players of how much money they stood to lose.

"By comparison, we received 50 percent of total revenue under the previous CBA, and our 53-47 proposal would reduce the player share to 46.4 percent of total revenues," he wrote. "In addition, compared to our former 57-43 split, the owner's proposed 50-50 shifts more than $300 million per year to the owners, which equates to more than $3 billion over a 10-year deal."