One with the People [Updated]

I am catching the back-end of this story, but it is being carried in many newspapers across the country. It seems that the head of the NBA players union suggested that the union might sue, rather than play the All-Star game in New Orleans next year, if the city isn't "safe" enough.

Or in his words:

On Monday, Hunter told Newsday that, "If the union is not convinced that the city can accommodate the All-Star game, it's an issue that will be subject to litigation between the union and the league."

However, Hunter said he was just speaking hypothetically and would only act if he felt the safety of his players was in jeopardy. He said he anticipates no problems, adding that a number of Hornets players look forward to their return to the city.

"If things for some reason or other were to degenerate to the level where everybody was alarmed, where it just wouldn't make sense to go, in that instance I could always initiate a lawsuit," he said. "That's not to say I'd prevail, but clearly I could do that. But we're nowhere near that, and it was a hypothetical situation to begin with."

I know not everyone considers the sports unions to be "real" unions (unlike, say, grad unions), but seriously, what was the freakin' upside to trashing New Orleans? Whereas the Teamsters are content to be xenophobic about Mexican trucks, the NBA Players Association needs to be xenophobic about people too poor to get the hell out of New Orleans.

Update (hilarious):
From ESPN:

At least one player -- one with police training -- is also concerned.

"I'm not sure if the city of New Orleans is ready for something like that," Shaquille O'Neal, who played at LSU, told Newsday. "I don't know what New Orleans' situation is, but from watching the Spike Lee special and watching the news, it doesn't look like it's ready for something like that."