NBA lockout 2011: three weeks to go with no deal in place

NBA Lockout Hangs Over Finals

An NBA lockout may soon happen if the league and its players don't come up with a new agreement before the current one expires in three weeks.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said the two sides are nowhere near any resolution but expressed  some optimism that subsequent talks will resolve the issue.

"I won't call it heated, but it was good and frank, open and robust," Stern said after the first meeting in Dallas between the league and the player's union executive committee. "That's a good thing."

Fans and players are staring at the first NBA lockout in over a decade if the players union and the league do not agree on how to divide $4 billion in revenue, among other things.

The league had said it stands to lose $300 million this season under the terms of the present contract and will have to take belt-tightening steps in the future to avoid an NBA lockout.   NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said that 22 out of 30 teams will be posting losses this season, a number which the players union dispute.

The NBA wants to restructure the salary cap and limit payrolls to $45 million annually. NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter had said that players do not agree with the proposal.

"I just take it as a real positive that we're continuing to meet," David Stern said of the NBA lockout talks.

League officials are doing everything that they can to avoid what happened to the NFL, which imposed a lockout on its players in March.

NBA lockout 2011 edition seems to be scrutinized by fans closer as soon as the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks is done. The series is tied at two games apiece.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Thursday June 09 2011, 5:51 AM EST. Ref: Bloomberg. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0