NBA cancels first two weeks of regular season

NBA commissioner David Stern canceled the first two weeks of the 2011-12 regular season after several hours of meetings failed to result in a new labor deal.

NBA commissioner David Stern canceled the first two weeks of the 2011-12 regular season after several hours of meetings failed to result in a new labor deal.

Stern said he is canceling all scheduled regular season games through November 14 after the two sides met for seven hours on Monday.

Stern said the last-ditch effort to end the lockout of the players and begin the season on time failed because the two sides are miles apart on a number of key issues that need to be resolved.

"We just have a gulf that separates us," Stern said. "With every day that goes by, I think we need to look at further reductions in what's left of the season."

All of the NBA's 114 pre-season games have already been wiped out by the contract dispute.

"Despite extensive efforts, we have not been able to reach a new agreement with the players' union that allows all 30 teams to be able to compete for a championship while fairly compensating our players," the NBA said in a statement.

No new talks have been scheduled but owners and players said they planned to keep in touch.

Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver, owners Peter Holt of San Antonio, Glen Taylor of Minnesota and James Dolan of New York, and senior vice president and deputy general counsel Dan Rube represented the owners in talks on Monday. They met with union executive director Billy Hunter, president Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers and vice president Maurice Evans of the Washington Wizards, and lawyers Jeffrey Kessler and Ron Klempner.

There is still three weeks before the start of the regular season but the way it stands now the two sides may end up in court. Each has accused the other of unfair labor practices which the National Labor Relations Board is looking into. The owners also filed a lawsuit in US federal court against the players union.

Union brass have so far decided not to decertify like their counterparts with the National Football League. Although the basketball players say they haven't ruled out that option.

The owners locked out the players July 1 when they couldn't reach a deal before the expiration of the old collective bargaining agreement. The NBA's opening night was scheduled for November 1.

The main stumbling block has been the issue of how to share basketball-related income. The owners want a 50-50 share of revenues while the players says they aren't going to go below 53 percent.

Team owners and players have been haggling over how to divide $3.8 billion in annual revenues and also over salary cap issues.

The gaps in their positions has been so wide it could now jeopardize the entire 2011-2012 campaign, says Fisher.

The warring sides have met occasionally over the past few weeks and then tried to get down to business on Sunday night, meeting for several hours before continuing talks for seven hours on Monday.

"This is not where we choose to be," he said. "We're not at a place where a fair deal can be reached with the NBA."

Earlier this year, the owners angered the players by giving them a proposal that called for salary rollbacks, shorter contracts and a hard salary cap of $45 million.

The only prior NBA season shortened due to money issues was in 1998-99 when the season was cut to 50 games per club because it took so long to reach a deal.

Only once in North American sports history has an entire season been lost to players and team owners being unable to agree upon financial terms, that being the National Hockey League's lost 2004-2005 campaign.

The NBA said refunds are available for all season-ticket holders for all preseason and regular season games that have been canceled.

Source : AFP