Deadline passes, but labor negotiations continue on Thursday

After 12 hours of meetings that extended into early Thursday morning, NBA players and owners have decided to come back again for more talks again on Thursday.

And in the process, NBA commissioner David Stern’s ultimatum to accept an offer by 4 p.m. CT Wednesday or it would be replaced with a much harsher one has passed.

Stern reacted with a smirk when asked why he allowed the deadline to pass earlier in the day when queried after midnight on Thursday.

“I wouldn’t read into this optimism or pessimism,” Stern said.

The meetings will continue at noon Thursday.

“We can’t say there was significant progress made today, but we decided to come back again tomorrow,” NBPA president Derek Fisher said.

We’ve been to this point several times before in the negotiations.

Several reporters say that players are prepared to decertify their union if they don’t see some give on the luxury tax, even if they agree to a 50-50 split in basketball-related income.

We’ll see if they get to that point after tomorrow’s session.

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