NBA Decertification: Grant Hill 'Prominent' In Latest Talks To End NBA Lockout

Read More: nba lockout, nba decertification, Ray Allen (G - BOS), Grant Hill (F - PHO), J.J. Redick (G - ORL), Tim Duncan (F - SAN), James Posey (F - IND), Russell Westbrook (G - OKC)

Decertification of the NBA Players Association's union is once again gaining steam heading into this weekend's negotiations to end the NBA lockout. A conference call briefing the players on the possibility of decertification was held earlier this week with veteran Grant Hill playing a "prominent" part in the discussion, according to a report from ESPN's Marc Stein.

Hill, a veteran of the lockout process having gone through the 1999 NBA lockout as well, joined Russell Westbrook, James Posey and J.J. Redick as the new names Stein has unearthed that played a part in the players-only conference calls.

It might be interesting to not that Hill, along with the previously known to be involved Ray Allen, is represented by Jim Tanner. Tanner was not one of the original agents to publicly propose decertification, but he does represent some of the most influential NBA players (including Tim Duncan, who has not yet been identified as one of the members on this call).

As far as the other new participants are concerned, Westbrook and Redick both count Arn Tellem as their agent while Posey is represented by Priority Sports' Mark Bartelstein.

It remains to be seen exactly what the players are planning to do if they actually get enough votes to decertify the union. While it's possible that disbanding the union would give them a bit of leverage, it also doesn't guarantee any solution and has been described as being both risky and messy.