A month before the start of the NBA season, and with the lockout three months old, NBA commissioner David Stern underlined the importance of the negotiations over the weekend late last week. However, after failing to make real progress towards a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on Saturday, the two sides agreed to meet again on Monday – the day that the now-cancelled training camps were due to begin.
“I wouldn't say there was any progress,” Hunter told ESPN. “What happened was, they put some concepts up, we put some concepts up, and we're still miles apart. There's a huge bridge, gap, that I don't know if we're going to be able to close it or not.” The start of the season is scheduled for November 1.
In a seven-hour bargaining session – the longest meeting since the lockout began on July 1 – the talks centred on the salary cap, but both parties reportedly did not even discuss the division of revenues, which remains a major obstacle to a new CBA. Stern said that he had nothing to announce in terms of cancellations, but the remainder of the pre-season schedule is in jeopardy and there is the prospect of the regular-season being disrupted.
Stern added: “Our desire would be to not cancel, and we had been hopeful that this weekend would be a broader marker, but for reasons which we understand, the players suggested that we resume on Monday, and we said 'fine'. We're not near anything, but wherever that is, we're closer than we were before.”
NBA owners, citing losses of US$300 million for the 2010-11 season and more than $1.5 billion over the six-year term of the recently completed CBA, are seeking significant reductions in player compensation. The previous labour deal saw players receive 57% of league basketball-related income, equating to $2.176 billion from the total of $3.8 billion for the past season.
