By Chris Sheridan NEW YORK — The NBA will announce the postponement of training camps and exhibition games Friday, according to union director Billy Hunter, who dismissed the forthcoming move as the league “playing semantics.” In an exclusive interview with SheridanHoops.com, Hunter said the league has made “glacial” movement recently in the amount of aggregate dollars they are willing to devote to player salaries, but those proposals have been hypothetical rather than formal. “In general, we haven’t made any progress,” Hunter said. “I really
NBA Lockout Update: Owners committee to meet Friday
NEW YORK — The sides didn’t say much of substance after today’s NBA labor talks. From Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press: “Stern celebrated his 69th birthday Thursday but didn’t appear in a festive mood after meeting for about five hours with leaders from the union. … Stern said the owners’ labor relations committee would talk Friday, and both sides said they hoped to meet again next week.
NBA Lockout Update: Generous amnesty provision?
By Chris Sheridan NEW YORK — Negotiations to end the NBA lockout are resuming today in Manhattan with all the heavy hitters in attendance, so there will be some news before the end of the day. Stay tuned on that front. In the meantime, chew on these two articles: In the Oregonian, columnist John Canzano reports an amnesty provision could be part of the new labor agreement, and it would provide some serious cap flexibility leaguewide: “Two NBA sources told me Tuesday that they believe
Bernucca Column: Punking vs. Punching
By Chris Bernucca “There’s a lot of woofing going on in the league. Guys do a lot of talking. What I would like to see, since television seems to be promoting everything, is an off-season boxing tournament for NBA players. Let them put on 16-ounce gloves and fight three two-minute rounds. One thing it would do … it would stop a lot of the woofing going on.” – “Pistol” Pete Maravich, in a 1977 Sports Illustrated article My son plays AAU basketball. He’s not
NBA lockout talks to resume Wednesday
From Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (a friend and former AP colleague who has been covering the lockout like a blanket, yet still has not issued a prediction on whether the season will start on time, unlike some of us): “The fact that the two sides are willing to reconvene so soon after large-group talks stalled is neither a positive nor a negative sign until we learn what each side is bringing to the table. Sources familiar with the negotiations said the
May Column: Ainge explains McHale’s return to coaching
By Peter May They all come back. Whether it’s the money, the desire for competition, the lifestyle they thought they missed, they all come back. Kevin McHale is only the latest to leave the security of the broadcast booth to take a coaching job in the NBA. Leaving aside the question of whether the Houston Rockets know what they’re doing, the average person has to ask: what is he doing? Why would anyone want to get back to those long days, the unending
Heisler column: Only Stern knows true timetable
By Mark Heisler Mama, put my guns in the ground, I can’t shoot them anymore. That long, black cloud is comin’ down. Feel like I’m knocking … Oh, not yet? This just in: The NBA season, preseason, training camps and even the pre-camp media days aren’t over yet! As for those hopelessly stalemated talks with rifts reportedly opening on both sides? Yeah, right. Everything you’ve seen and heard to this point is play-acting. As far as actual negotiations, neither side has even started yet. Given the NBA
Spain wins EuroBasket, but can they beat Team USA
KAUNAS, Lithuania — There is only one thing that is ultimately relevant for Americans about the team that just won EuroBasket: One year from now, will Spain have what it takes to defeat Team USA in the gold medal game of the London Olympics? Because let’s face it, this Spanish team showed it is clearly the second-best team in the world right now, just as they were three years ago in Beijing when they put 107 points on the board (in a