Negotiators for both sides of the NBA lockout met in New York for 13 hours to reach a deal before the start of the NBA season. Participants of the meeting included NBA commissioner David Stern, a couple of owners (San Antonio owner Peter Holt, New York Knicks owner James Dolan, and Minnesota Timberwolves Glen Taylor) along with NBA Officials Rick Buchanan and Dan Rube, while the NBA union side were union executive director Billy Hunter, L.A Lakers/Union president Derek Fisher, vice president Maurice Evans, and lawyers Jeffrey Kessler and Ron Klempner. Last week, Stern set a Monday deadline to reach an agreement. Unfortunately, they were unable to reach a deal for the split of basketball relation income, which led the commissioner to cancel the first two weeks of the 2011-2012 NBA season. David Stern made the announcement about the cancellation around 10 pm last night.
"We certainly hope it would never come to this. I think that both sides worked hard to get a better solution."
| NBA Commissioner David Stern |
NBA union executive director Billy Hunter doesn't feel that the entire 2011-2012 NBA season is in trouble. However, the union has been preparing for the worst to happen, similar to the shortened 1998-1999 basketball season. He told reporters:
"We probably need to miss a few games in order for them to be convinced that there is resolve among the players. While we don't want to be out here, our players are not going to fall apart. We've spend two and half years getting them ready. This is the worst-case scenario."
| NBA Union Executive Director Billy Hunter |