By Chris Sheridan “If we didn’t think there was any hope, we wouldn’t be scheduling the meetings. But that’s the best I would say right now.” — David Stern, Oct. 1. That was about the best thing the commish did say — although he threw in a line about wrestling Dwyane Wade to the ground — Saturday night when collective bargaining talks adjourned and the sides said they would reconvene Monday. Getting a deal done in the upcoming week is imperative to keeping the scheduled Nov. 1
Lockout talks to resume Monday (unless something secret happens Sunday)
By Chris Sheridan NEW YORK — They spent seven hours in the room together Saturday, and they didn’t even talk about the split of revenues. Instead, owners and players trying to negotiate an end to the NBA lockout discussed aspects of the soft cap system they will operate under once they get a deal done. And when might that be? It is now looking like the latter part of next week is the drop dead date for saving the scheduled Nov. 1 start
Lockout update: Talks to resume this afternoon
By Chris Sheridan NEW YORK — NBA labor talks will resume this afternoon in New York, and they are expected to last through the weekend — if not longer. Prior to today’s bargaining session, there will be a player meeting including some of the league’s biggest superstars. If you believe Virtus Bologna owner Claudio Sabatini, Kobe Bryant will be among them. There is some news out there this morning on a few of the details of what the owners are seeking, some of which
NBA Lockout: Where the settlement lies, dollar-wise
By Chris Sheridan NEW YORK — From what I can gather, it is looking more and more like a deal is going to be cut in the 51/49 or 50/50 range when it comes to the split of basketball related income. It’ll probably take the sides a couple of days to get to that point when negotiations resume Friday, with the owners currently offering only 46-48 percent (down from 57 percent in the last deal) and the players at 54 (but having
NBA Lockout: Short meeting on ‘ideas and concepts’ – UPDATED
By Chris Sheridan NEW YORK — If things had gone poorly Tuesday in the jump-started NBA collective bargaining talks, the sides would have let that be known. So it should probably be seen as a positive sign that the owners and players retreated to their neutral corners after meeting for less than three hours and agreed to meet again today. I tweeted back on June 30 that there was probably a deal to be done at 52/48 in terms of the split in
NBA lockout negotiations to resume Tuesday
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com broke the news: “Tuesday and Wednesday represent the last opportunities to bargain this week with several key members of both sides’ negotiating teams observing Rosh Hashanah on Thursday and Friday.” “The precise composition and format for the negotiations is still being determined due to a scheduling conflict of at least one key member of the parties that have made progress in small-group settings since Aug. 31. Once that is resolved, the goal is to continue with the small-group
Heisler Column: Goodbye mid-level, hello NBA season
By Mark Heisler Gee, already? After a one-month stalemate, a year of posturing, hints of contraction, et al., NBA owners and players began to engage last week…. Almost. The owners reportedly bumped their offer up… by like 1 percent. Hey, these things proceed at their own excruciating pace, and it was still early to expect anyone’s best offer. There was David Stern’s usual foreshadowing (“The calendar is not our friend”) and his usual light moment, even as darkness gathered (“We told them we wouldn’t say anything,
Lockout update: Hunter: “I don’t think they’re ready to do a deal”
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