NBA Labour talks set to resume Wednesday – Basketball Update
NBA players and owners are poised to meet again this Wednesday for more talks on the ongoing labour dispute. Representatives from both sides will be present in the meeting, which is also scheduled to be followed up with another
one on Thursday.
The meetings come after a gloomy week in the NBA labour scene which saw more and more doubts being cast over the fate of an NBA season. At the start of September, the players and owners held meetings that built up some momentum
and gave many fans renewed hope for the NBA season 2011-2012.
However a disappointing meeting last Tuesday, put the negotiating process in jeopardy after the players refused to concede further ground to NBA Commissioner David Stern and the owners. Fallout from the ill fated meeting meant
that the training camps scheduled for October 3rd are now almost guaranteed to be cancelled.
Therefore, the new spate of scheduled meetings, come at a time of severe turmoil. A new approach is also being taken for the meetings. According to reports, the major negotiators from both sides will not be present at the meeting
on Wednesday.
The likes of David Stern, NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, President of NBPA Derek Fisher and Executive Director of the players union Billy Hunter will not be present in the first meeting. They are supposed to join in on the
negotiations on Thursday though, after some other staff from both side have kick started the process.
The NBA lockout, which began on July 1st, is now in its third month and both sides are still hanging onto most of their demands. This is especially true for the owners. They held a conference in Dallas last Thursday
where revenue sharing was discussed and members were briefed on the labour talks.
The owners though have refused to make the players part of revenue sharing discussions which had been demanded. The owners, who want a much bigger pie of the BRI in the new CBA after 57 percent was guaranteed to the players in
the previous ones, have also not backed down one inch from this demand even though it means that the players have to give up billions of dollars over the duration of the CBA.
The players did agree to take a cut in their share of the BRI even before the lockout began, showing a willingness to come down to around 54 percent. They also indicated they would be willing to take a significant economic hit
to get the a deal done last week, but the owners and Stern simply refused to accede to the player’s of not touching the salary cap system.
If a deal has to be done, the absolute rigidity being displayed by the owners will have to go.
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