The NBA lockout was back on the slow track Wednesday with the two men actually bickering over who should call whom, and who made the first call last time.
"If we are going to meet, in all probability it won't be until the week between Christmas and New Year's," Hunter said in a conference call with reporters. "We're going to find ourselves locked into a 12th-hour scenario.
"At this stage it's kind of like poker, and what they're trying to do is see who blinks first."
The sides have not met since Saturday, but ESPN reported that the players' association made a fairly substantial concession in negotiations.
The union has agreed to a cap on contracts at a maximum of $10 million for players with up to six years of service.
There are no meetings scheduled prior to this weekend, when Stern will leave for his residence in the Colorado ski resort town.
An NBA spokesman said Stern could be back in New York within a few hours if developments warranted.
Hunter, in one of his most detailed conversations of the 5-month-old lockout, said the "drop dead" date for saving the season must be after the holidays.
"Things can't be too critical or extreme in view of the fact that commissioner Stern is planning a vacation in Aspen," Hunter said. "If that's the case, I would assume that Jan. 1 is not the drop dead date.
"We have looked at the proposed schedules, and we are aware if the season would start by Feb. 1, there would be at least 40-42 games left. If you eliminate the All-Star Game and maybe added a week or so, you could get up to 50-55 games."
Hunter also addressed the issue of race relations in the bargaining process, following two published reports that some players think it might be a complicating factor.
"I don't think race is (a factor). You've got billionaire owners accustomed to seeing their dictates honored, and on the other side of the table you have players predominantly of African-American origin. People can read into it anything they want. Maybe subliminally it may be there, but it's all about dollars and hard economics," Hunter said.
