Tag: CBS

Report: Talks resume in hopes of saving Christmas Day games

First, Ken Berger of CBS Sportsline reported that attorney Jim Quinn, who helped broker a deal to end the 1998-99 NBA lockout, had involved himself as a go-between in an attempt to perform a similar service in this year’s lockout.

Now, Yahoo!Sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski, citing league sources, reported on Wednesday that talks between the NBA and the players had resumed, though no details were available. Here’s a link to his report: .

According to Wojnarowski, the talks began on Tuesday and were ongoing, as of Wednesday afternoon. He described them as a last-ditch attempt to save the Christmas Day games as part of a shortened season.

These are not negotiations, per se. Rather, they are settlement talks pertaining to the lawsuit the players have filed against the NBA.

Either way, talking is a good thing, but fans should remain skeptical. We’ve gotten excited about perceived breakthroughs several times over the last couple of months, only to be disappointed.

Could 82-game NBA season be salvaged?

Reports from the marathon NBA bargaining session that stretched well into Thursday morning sound as substantive as we’ve heard during the nearly four months of negotiating between the two sides.

The best news that came from both the players and owners after the 15-hour session ended was that an 82-game season still could  be salvagable if a settlement could  be reached by Sunday or Monday.

“We initially wanted to miss none,” NBA commissioner David Stern“It’s sad that we’ve missed two weeks. We’re trying to apply a tourniquet and go forward. That’s always been our goal.”

Both Stern and Billy Hunter sounded upbeat when they emerged to give their spin to the media.

Maybe it’s the late hour. But how come this seems to be a completely different attitude emerging than after cataclysmic gloom and doom that marked the end of last week’s abrupt conclusion? 

Despite the happy spin both sides have, huge work needs to be made when they meet again beginnning at 2 p.m. Thursday.

One source told CBS Sports.com that “small moves” have been made. But the same gap exists with the split of the basketball-related income remains and appears to still be the same impediment to a deal as before.

It will be up to Hunter and Stern to bridge that gap.

They’ve been here before and haven’t been able to settle the deal.

Will they be any more successful on Thursday?

Basketball fans can only hope.

More NBA labor talks set for Thursday

After eight more hours of discussion between the players and owners as they attempt to end the lockout, federal mediator George Cohen issued his first public statement about the talks.

Don’t get your hopes up. It was short and not particularly sweet.

Ken Berger of CBS Sports.com reports that Cohen on the status of the talks. Cohen emphasized the importance of confidentiality in the talks and confirmed that more talks would continue on Thursday.  

NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner reports that Wednesday’s meeting lasted for 8 1/2 hours, with NBA commissioner David Stern. “Everyone is extremely focused on the issues that confront them,” Cohen said.

Yahoo.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that two sources indicated that progress was made on the basketball-related income revenue split, but also added there was at Wednesday’s extensive talks.

Which means it will be back to the negotiating table Thursday afternoon for both sides.