NBA Lockout: David Stern To Miss 3rd Straight Day Of Talks With Flu
After another long day of negotiations, NBA players and owners left with nothing more than plans for another meeting.
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After another long day of negotiations, NBA players and owners left with nothing more than plans for another meeting.
NBA owners and players are meeting for a second straight day, shortly after finishing a 16-hour marathon with a federal mediator.
Yes, the NBA is on the fast track to hardwood hockey, on the verge of the very thing that killed the NHL – a ruined season.
Here we are: NBA commissioner David Stern's "G-Day." Stern told WFAN last week that without a labor agreement Tuesday his "gut" was that there wouldn't be pro basketball on Christmas.
It was a rough week in New York sports. From the Jets and Giants to the Yankees and Rangers, there wasn't a lot to be happy about.
Thanks to two great interviews by Mike Francesa with David Stern and Billy Hunter, the disagreements that are driving this NBA lockout are becoming very obvious. Let's take a look at the three primary issues that are keeping the NBA off the court.
Over the last two days, NBA Commissioner David Stern and NBA Players Association head Billy Hunter spoke with WFAN's Mike Francesa to get a better idea of where the situation stands today.
"It's time to make a deal. If we don't make it Tuesday, my gut ... is that we won't be playing on Christmas Day," Stern said.
NBA owners apparently weren't bluffing when they said they wanted competitive balance just as much as a chance to profit.
National Basketball Players Association Director Billy Hunter joined WFAN's Mike Francesa for about an hour on Wednesday to clarify the status of NBA lockout negotiations.
Leave it to the NBA to ruin their revival. David Stern and Billy Hunter are engaged in a perilous staring contest. They both better blink soon, or the consequences could be calamitous.
I should have been watching an NBA preseason game last night. In three weeks, I should be watching the Knicks start their season against the Miami Heat. That's not going to happen.
Some questions and answers about the NBA's labor impasse.
Two weeks of NBA games are lost. Many more could be in jeopardy.
Top negotiators for both sides met for more than seven hours Monday, returning to bargaining about 14 hours after ending talks Sunday night.
Top negotiators for the NBA and players' association met Sunday night in perhaps the last chance to avoid canceled regular-season games.
Top negotiators for the NBA and players' association will meet Sunday night in perhaps the last chance to avoid canceled regular-season games.
Without an agreement by Monday, the beginning of the NBA season will be canceled, and both sides will lose millions of dollars and perhaps countless fans.
The best part of Tuesday for NBA fans was the cancellation of the rest of the preseason. That means for season ticket holders like me, there will be no payments for preseason games that no one wants to go to.
So it comes down to this. After a lockout that has lasted more than three months, whether the NBA season starts on time could hinge on one "very huge day" in labor talks.
With perhaps days left to avoid further damage, negotiators for owners and players are talking again in hopes of ending the lockout.
By Monday, everyone is going to know whether or not the NBA season is going to start on time. We might even know if there's going to be a season at all. It seems much more bluster than reality, but this weekend is crucial to the future of the NBA.
NBA owners and players will meet Friday and perhaps through the weekend, with Commissioner David Stern warning there are "enormous consequences at play" as the sides try to preserve an on-time start to the season.
Smiling widely but even resorting to a memorable NBA cliche to avoid specifics, David Stern provided little insight into the direction of the league's labor situation. That, he hinted, could come Wednesday.
So it's come down to this: no labor deal, no training camps and no telling what else the NBA could lose.
