NBA marathon session ends after 15 hours

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Associated Press

NEW YORK — NBA owners and players ended a marathon negotiation session early Thursday after meeting for more than 15 hours in talks aimed at ending the lockout.

They’ll return to the table Thursday afternoon.

“We were able to work through a number of different issues today regarding our system,” union president Derek Fisher said. “We can’t say that major progress was made in any way, but some progress was made on system issues. Obviously enough for us to come back.”

NBA Commissioner David Stern said he hopes to build upon the progress made.

“We’re not going to talk about the particular progress,” he said. “The energy in the room has been good; the back and forth has been good.”

Union executive director Billy Hunter said the two sides did not discuss the distribution of basketball revenue, which has been one of the biggest obstacles to a deal.

The revenue split emerged as such a roadblock last week that Hunter said they should “park” the issue and turn the discussions back to the system, saying that players might be willing to take a lower number if they found the system rules more favorable.

“I think we’ll turn to the split when we finish with the system,” Stern said. “Right now, it has been profitable to turn to the system.”

Seeking greater parity among their 30 teams, owners are looking to reduce the ways that teams can exceed the salary cap so that big markets won’t have a significant payroll advantage. Players have feared that changes owners have been seeking would result in what would essentially be a hard salary cap, restricting player movement and perhaps even eliminating most guaranteed contracts.

“We are united on the NBA side in wanting a system that makes all teams competitive,” Stern said. “We have some strong views on what the best way to do that is.”

The sides returned to bargaining with a small group meeting less than a week after three intense days of mediation didn’t produce a new labor deal. Wednesday’s negotiations marked the second-longest bargaining session since the lockout began July 1. The talks stretched into early Thursday morning, the first time bargaining has gone past 3 a.m.

The first two weeks of the season already have been canceled, and there’s little time left to save any basketball in November.

Both Fisher and Hunter expressed hope that a full 82-game schedule could still be played if a deal is reached by Sunday or Monday.

Stern said the league intends to play as many games as possible.

“Whether that gets to be 82 games or not is dependent upon so many things that have to be checked,” he said. “We just think we’ve got to do it soon.”

He insisted the league never wanted to miss any games.

“It’s sad that we’ve missed two weeks, and we’re trying to apply a tourniquet and go forward,” Stern said. “That’s always been our goal.”

Talks broke down last Thursday when players said owners insisted they agree to a 50-50 split of revenues as a condition to further discuss the salary cap system.

The players have lowered their proposal to 52.5 percent of basketball-related income, leaving the sides about $100 million apart annually, based on last season’s revenues. Players were guaranteed 57 percent of BRI under the previous collective bargaining agreement.

Stern rejoined the talks Wednesday after missing last Thursday’s session with the flu. He was joined by Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, owners Peter Holt of San Antonio, Glen Taylor of Minnesota and James Dolan of New York, and a pair of league office attorneys.

The union was represented by Hunter, Fisher and vice president Maurice Evans of the Wizards, attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy.

The sides also are struggling over items such as the length of the deal, players’ contract lengths and the size of their raises.

Clock ticking for NBA deal

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Associated Press

NEW YORK — NBA players and owners still have no deal headed into the deadline for starting the season on time.

Negotiators for the sides met for more than five hours Sunday before breaking for the night. They are scheduled to return Monday afternoon.

“We’re not necessarily any closer than we were going in tonight, but we’ll be back at it tomorrow and we’ll keep putting time in,” union president Derek Fisher of the Lakers.

If they can’t come to a deal then, Commissioner David Stern has said the first two weeks of the regular season will be canceled. It is scheduled to begin Nov. 1.

Neither side offered any specifics, but a person with knowledge of the talks told The Associated Press that they did not discuss the split of revenues, perhaps the biggest issue dividing them. The person was granted anonymity because the details were supposed to remain private.

When they last met on Tuesday, league officials asked the union if they would consider a 50-50 split of basketball-related revenues. The players, guaranteed 57 percent under the previous collective bargaining agreement, rejected that and said they were not prepared to go below 53 percent.

The salary cap system is the other big issue remaining.

Fisher also said the union would postpone a regional meeting scheduled for Monday in Los Angeles so he and other officials could remain in New York for more talks.

“We feel like our time, and our guys would want our time, to be used in meeting and try to get closer to getting a deal done,” he said. “So instead of going forward with that meeting, we’re going to put it off and then we’ll reschedule it accordingly depending on what happens tomorrow and into the week if we continue to meet.”

No further talks had been expected this weekend. On Friday, a person close to the union told AP players had been seeking a session before the deadline, but were told it came with a precondition of agreeing to the 50-50 revenue split.

The NBA later confirmed it wasn’t prepared to move above a 50-50 split but still was open to discussing other issues, but that the union had declined.

Stern, Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, owners Peter Holt of San Antonio and Glen Taylor of Minnesota, and senior vice president and deputy general counsel Dan Rube met with union executive director Billy Hunter, Fisher and vice president Maurice Evans of the Wizards, and attorneys Jeffrey Kessler and Ron Klempner.

Stern wouldn’t comment on Sunday’s talks beyond saying they would meet again Monday, adding they had an agreement with the players not to provide any details.

Fisher’s text reportedly implores players to prepare for lockout end

After intensified negotiations last week between NBA commissioner David Stern and the players’ union, another sign could be indicating we are pointing to a settlement of the lockout soon.

The immenently plugged-in Sam Amick of SI.com reported over the weekend that one league source claims that union president Derek Fisher indicating that some progress had been made and imploring them to be physically prepared just in case the season started on time.

And ESPN.com’s Chris Broussard reported that NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver — commonly thought to be the second-most important negotiator for the ownership group behind Stern — with Wasserman Media Group CEO Casey Wasserman.

In addition to being one of the top agencies representing players in the NBA, the Wasserman Media Group relies heavily on an agent who has been known to be more pushy than the rest during a lockout landscape.

Arn Tellem – who represents a league-leading 34 NBA players, including 10 All-Stars — drew the ire of commissioner Stern and NBPA executive director Billy Hunter during the 1998-99 lockout for taking a more extreme position than most of his colleagues.

Tellem hasn’t changed much since then and is said to be a big supporter of decertification.

So if there has been progress made in negotiations, a high-ranking official like Silver checking in with one of the staunchest potential impediments certainly is interesting.