NEW YORK (AP) — NBA owners and players failed again Tuesday to get close to a labor deal, and union president Derek Fisher says he anticipates the remainder of the preseason will be canceled.
NEW YORK (AP) — NBA owners and players failed again Tuesday to get close to a labor deal, and union president Derek Fisher says he anticipates the remainder of the preseason will be canceled. Regular-season games could follow soon afterward, with talks breaking down and no meetings scheduled — players’ association executive director Billy Hunter said the next could be even a month or two months away. Players had offered to reduce their guarantee of basketball-related income from 57 to 53 percent, which they said would have given owners back more than $1 billion over six years. But they said the owners’ last proposal had them at 47 percent. "Today was not the day for us to get this done," Fisher said after the sides met for more than four hours. "We were not able to get close enough to close the gap." Players felt they had given enough on economics, with Hunter saying their offer of BRI reduction would have translated to at least $200 million per season — a sizable chunk of the $300 million owners said they lost last season. But with that gap remaining, and the sides still divided on the salary cap structure, the NBA is now closer to losing games to a work stoppage for only the second time. And like in 1998-99, when the season was reduced to 50 games, players say they will not accept a bad deal just to get back on the court quicker. "Our guys have indicated a willingness to lose games," Hunter said. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
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