NEW YORK — The magic number was 51, but neither side would go there. As a result: Poof! It all went up in smoke. Some trick, eh? The ultimate disappearing act. Million of dollars, millions of fans — all of them gone quicker than you can say Abracadabra. If commissioner David Stern is to be taken at his word, all hopes for a full 82-game NBA season are now gone after negotiations to end the lockout broke off Friday over the issue of
Lockout talks have broken off
NEW YORK — NBA labor talks have broken off over what was always the most contentious issue — the split of revenues. And commissioner David Stern is now saying there will not an 82-game schedule “under any circumstances.” Union director Billy Hunter said the players did not move off their offer of 52.5 percent of revenues, and he said the owners had taken their 50-50 proposal off the table and are now back to offering 47 percent — an assertion that Stern
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
Gibson Column: Batum, Krstic Shine, But This Is Navarro’s Euroleague
BARCELONA — Eleven men dressed in red and blue knelt to the floor and then rocked onto their backsides, some grabbing a heel, others a toe as they stretched. But Barcelona’s Juan Carlos Navarro remained standing, his heels and toes right behind the 3-point stripe. Unlike the others, he wore long black pants and a matching long-sleeved shooting shirt, and all it took was a raised eyebrow for the ball boy to get the hint; he fired one out as Juan
Lockout update: BRI split to be discussed Friday
NEW YORK — Billy Hunter told the world the sides in the NBA lockout are “within striking distance of a deal,” and he told SheridanHoops.com even more: “The BRI split is the very first thing we are going to try to tackle in the morning.” Owners and players met for 7 1/2 more hours Thursday after putting in a nearly 15 1/2 hour session that began Wednesday and ended after 3 a.m. Thursday. Exhausted after the 23 hours of meetings, the sides called it
Lockout update: Around the Web
NEW YORK — NBA labor talks are now midway through their sixth hour, and there are two new faces in the room: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, and New York Knicks guard Roger Mason of “How u?” fame. The union’s economist, Kevin Murphy, is absent today, and union attorney Ron Klempner is present but sounded last night as though he had lost his voice — probably from his persistent yelling that the players are not going to acquiesce on everything on the owners’
LeBron James is tampering (so what?)
One nice upside of the NBA lockout is that tampering rules are not fully in effect. Yes, team executives cannot talk about other teams or other players or even their own players, but LeBron James is not a member of management and thus is exempt from the rule until the lockout is settled. So call it tampering, or call it recruiting. But whatever the case, James is making the countdown to settlement day all the more interesting. From Ira Winderman of the South Florida
Bernucca column: Where Dwight might alight
If you were Sam Presti, would you trade Kendrick Perkins, James Harden, Eric Maynor and your best available first-round pick for Dwight Howard? Don’t worry, Thunder fans. It’s a trick question. Dwight Howard’s not going to Oklahoma City. He’s not going to Memphis for Marc Gasol and O.J. Mayo. Or to Indiana for Danny Granger and Roy Hibbert. Or to the Los Angeles Clippers for Chris Kaman and Eric Gordon. But Howard is going somewhere, that’s for sure. In the summer, Howard – who can