Lockout update: Around the Web

NEW YORK — Greetings from yet another lockout stakeout, where the media has become part of the furniture in the hotel lobby.

Both sides made it clear last night that dealmaking time has arrived, and they were scheduled to try to tackle the thorny issue of the BRI (basketball-related income) split first thing in the morning. The talks began at 10:30 a.m., and there has been no word from upstairs in the 5 1/2 hours since.

We media folk are gearing up for a long afternoon stretching into a long evening that perhaps stretches into the early hours of the morning, and I would not at all be surprised to be sitting on the same sofa I am sitting on now when Saturday night arrives.

Now, let’s have a look around the Web to see what is being reported.

Kate Fegan of philly.com: “In talking with those around the 76ers organization, there’s a decided sense of optimism that today (and by “today” we mean “today” as a starting point and likely stretching through the weekend) is the time for a deal. And that’s the first time it’s been that way. Both the NBA and the union have said a lot of things the previous two days to excite the fan base. Things like, “A deal is within reach if both sides show some flexibility,” and, “We’re preparing to negotiate over everything,” and even admitting that they’re considering ways to still play a full 82-game schedule. Stripped down, what each side is saying is that a new collective bargaining is possible, and the only way things fall apart this time is if one side (or both sides) refuse to display the necessary flexibility. It’s no longer a matter of a ridiculously un-closeable gap, it’s a matter of stepping to the plate and saving the game. In the last three days, because of the odd hours, I’ve been Tweeting and interacting with a different segment of the Sixers’ fan base: fans located overseas. All of us here at the stakeout have been reminded of the global reach of this game. Even if there’s a certain sense of apathy in the U.S., and certainly that apathy exists in Philly (go ahead and post another “Who cares?” comment!), there is a notable following overseas. The NBA is risking a heck of a lot during this lockout, even if many downplay the game’s relevance domestically. 

Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo Sports: “There’s strong belief on both sides that Friday’s bargaining session could culminate with the framework of an agreement to preserve most, if not all, of a full season. “It’s moved to a very good place,” one source briefed on Thursday’s 7½-hour bargaining session told Yahoo! Sports. “There’s a strong expectation [within the negotiations] that hands will shake [Friday].” … The progress on Wednesday night had been spurred by quiet talks between the two sides in the aftermath of an acrimonious and abrupt end of discussions last week. “Clearly, things happened [in recent days] to get this from a ‘sad, sad day for the NBA’ and ‘you were just lied to,’ to a current tenor where all signs point to the real possibility of a deal,” one source briefed on the talks late Wednesday told Yahoo! Sports.

Henry Abbott of ESPN.com’s TrueHoop: A third contributing factor, according to multiple sources, has been the absence this week of one of the union’s most feared negotiators, lawyer Jeffery Kessler. Owners make no bones of the fact that Kessler, the first name in American sports law, is a bear in the bargaining room. Some point out that the NFL players got a deal only after Kessler left the room. (Kessler might point out that the NFL players didn’t get the best deal.) Much was made of Portland owner Paul Allen’s appearance in last week’s mediated session. The suggestion was that he was there to send a message that owners were holding a hard line. NBA sources, however, say it was nothing of the sort. In fact, they say, he was there at the invitation of the NBA’s negotiators to watch Kessler. Allen was one of several owners who thought Stern and Silver had made players an overly generous offer of 50 percent of basketball-related income. The league’s lead negotiators essentially replied: Go see for yourself. You think you can get Kessler to go for 47 percent? Good luck to you.  In the ongoing dance between Hunter and NBA agents — many of whom feel Hunter is soft, risk-averse or ineffective — Kessler has been seen as something of a shield for Hunter. If a tough lawyer such as that will go for Hunter’s deal, who are the agents to complain? But that shield has been out of action and not, sources insist, because he is in the doghouse.