NBA owners and players hold “short” meeting; another round expected on Wednesday
The NBA owners and players met on Tuesday, September 27, 2011, in New York to continue talks over the labour dispute. In comparison to meetings in the recent past, which usually went on for 5 to 6 hours, this one was a brief affair,
lasting just 2 hours.
Although neither side gave much of a hint in terms of the progress made during the meeting, they did not believe it was a short affair.
Players’ union President Derek Fisher certainly thought that the two sides had held thorough talks.
"It didn't seem like it [was brief] in the room," Los Angeles Lakers point guard Fisher said. "But we don't waste time in there. Sometimes you get to a point where you have to break."
"We work hard at it every time we go up," he added.
The situation wasn’t really clear over what had been achieved. Fisher had stated earlier, in a letter to NBPA members, that there was disharmony in the ranks of NBA owners over the salary cap issue, and that was somewhere the players
thought they could move forward.
It is unlikely though that a decision regarding the matter would have been made in the two hours of discussion that took place. Both sides however appeared keen to meet again on Wednesday at the same venue to continue the talks.
"They and we have both agreed that as long as there's reason to keep discussing," NBA Commissioner David Stern said, "we will keep discussing -- undeterred by the calendar or weekends or things like that. We will know more after
[Wednesday's] session."
There have been concerns whether the pressure to get a deal done would get to members on either side. In the circumstances, when both sides having been at the table, on and off for over a year, people could get fed up with new
suggestions still surfacing.
Fisher though eased those fears after the meeting, saying the environment in the discussions was very open.
"We're not holding anybody accountable to ideas being thrown out in the room. It's really just a process that we're trying to go through to see if we can get a deal done." He explained.
Analysts believe that a resolution to the dispute should be reached, in principle, by the end of the month, or by the end of the first week of October. Then a few weeks would be required to put the new CBA down on paper.
If we are lucky, the start of the season would not have to be delayed. Others though warn that matters could get even worse if the start of the season is delayed as both sides become disenchanted with the process.
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