The NBA’s owners and players remain a long, long way from reaching a deal.
If you want good news at least both sides are talking — not in some secret hideaway, not because a judge ordered them to, but because they want to. And they will meet again Wednesday.
Neither side would discuss in detail what happened in Tuesday’s meeting, according to the Associated Press. David Stern did tell Ken Berger of CBS Sports they were hopeful for a “breakthrough.” Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said both sides were asking frank and difficult questions, trying to understand the priorities of the other side.
However, that breakthrough seems like a far off dream based on the handful of details that did leak out of the meeting, as Berger reports.Tempering the optimism and momentum that has been built with 23 days before the current collective bargaining agreement expires was Stern’s dismissal of a proposal made two weeks ago at a small bargaining session in New York in which the players offered to accept a sliding-scale for their cut of (basketball related income) based on revenues. If revenues went up, sources said the players would accept a smaller share of the increase. But Stern called the proposal “a tiny part” of the negotiation.
“There needs to be a very significant restructuring in order for the owners to have a sustainable investment here, hopefully approaching $5 billion of revenue,” Stern said. “So incremental stuff isn’t going to do the deal.”Like we said, there is a long, long way to go. But at least the two sides are still talking.