The news is that lower level staff have almost got it set so some time in the next few weeks the key owners and players representatives are finally going to sit down in a room together and talk again. And this is supposed to make us happy?
That’s the report from Tom Ziller at SB Nation.A National Basketball Players Association spokesman confirmed to SBNation.com that the union and NBA are hammering out details for the first bargaining session of the NBA lockout, to be held within the first two weeks of August.
Recent reports have suggested that neither the players nor owners have shown an inclination to get back to the bargaining table, given the vast gap said to separate the sides. But staff from each side have been communicating, and a bargaining session that includes NBA deputy director Adam Silver and members of the union’s board will be held in early August.
We’ve been saying this from the start and it needs to be repeated again — because even we get frustrated — these kinds of negotiations never really get serious until the threat of lost games nears reality. Which means things get serious in September.
Look at the NFL — 100 days of posturing then a deal got hammered out in a month. It’s the same with union negotiations involving teachers, police, longshoremen, and on down the line — it almost always comes down to the final days. There has to be real pressure on one or both sides before there is real compromise.
The concern with the NBA is that the owners and players are so far apart — much farther than their NFL brethren — that the time allotted will not be enough to reach a deal and save the full season. Maybe. But frankly until we get to September we’re not really going to know how bad things are.
Hey, but at least they’re almost meeting again. So everyone be happy.
