NEW YORK – NBA lockout talks stretched into the evening Friday at the same building where the 1998 lockout took a turn for the worse, and where Latrell Sprewell’s arbitration hearing was held. Just a stone’s throw from Central Park, the usual suspects from more than two dozen previous negotiating sessions assembled again. They included David Stern, Adam Silver and Peter Holt for the owners; and Billy Hunter, Derek Fisher and Maurice Evans for the players. The players new antitrust litigation lawyers;
Escrow system still problematic; Kessler shelved?
NEW YORK — He is a close-talker and a loud-talker whose voice can be the verbal equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard. David Stern has called his behavior “routinely despicable,” and on more than one occasion he has commandeered the post-meeting news briefings to incessantly spew vitriol at the NBA owners with whom he has been butting heads. He is Jeffrey Kessler, the lead outside counsel for what used to be known as the National Basketball Players Association, and he is
NBA sides have been meeting secretly; 66 game season eyed
At a certain point, the sides had to start talking again, right? And after two dozen negotiating sessions that played out in public, with both sides issuing their spin in comments to the media afterward (with the exception of sessions mediated by George Cohen), we are now learning that secret meetings have been taking place yesterday and today — presumably in an effort to settle all matters related to the NBA lockout, which would include litigation and collective bargaining matters. Adrian Wojnarowski
Morning-after lockout roundup: NBA union is very, very angry
NEW YORK — Good morning. Hope you got some sleep. I didn’t get much, and I imagine Jeffrey Kessler didn’t either. Kessler, the lead outside counsel for NBA players (he performs the same role for NFL players) was practically foaming at the mouth in the wee hours of the a.m. after David Stern and Derek Fisher had conducted their respective news conferences in the most diplomatic tones they could muster. The moment Fisher left the room, Kessler started venting. Loudly. And he didn’t let
Hunter, Fisher defend walkout and deny rift; NBA labor talks to resume Saturday
NEW YORK — If he had to do it all over again, Billy Hunter still would have walked out of the negotiating room. That was the defiant tone Hunter struck Thursday as the NBA players’ union held a news briefing at its headquarters in Harlem after owners and players decided they would resume discussions Saturday afternoon for the first time since their acrimonious blowup last Friday. At that meeting, after two days of discernible progress, Hunter and the players’ union representatives walked out of the room
Lockout update: See you in court
As we watch Adam Silver slowly morph into Gary Bettman, we bring you the latest lockout news from around the Web: Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News: “The NBA and the players union will take their fight to a Manhattan federal courtroom on Wednesday in a hearing that could affect the union’s potential plans to decertify if labor talks break down completely and the lockout goes on indefinitely. The league is asking Judge Paul G. Gardephe to rule that if the
Lockout items: Fisher v. Hunter?, Arison’s tweets
Chris Kaman tweeted this photo to express how he feels about the lockout
Lockout update: No agreement, but sides to meet again Monday
csprtContainer(); By Chris Sheridan NEW YORK — NBA commissioner David Stern was a man of few words late Sunday night when nearly six hours of collective bargaining talks ended. Stone-faced, he didn’t comment other than to say the sides would take another crack at it Monday — the day he has set as the deadline to save the scheduled Nov. 1 start of the regular season. The only guy who did much talking was players association president Derek Fisher, and he was not