NBA, Players Association Break Off Negotiations

News9.com

NEW YORK – After what both sides called a critical day of negotiating, the NBA and the NBPA announced that the sides are not near a deal and there is no timetable for resuming negotiations.

NBA Players Association Executive Director Billy Hunter said it might be a "month, maybe two months" before the sides resumed, adding that additional meetings simply were not scheduled.

"As of this moment, we've broken off negotiations," Hunter said.

Both sides had previously said that about one month would be needed between the end of a lockout and the start of any regular season games.

With the NBA season originally scheduled to start Nov. 1, the cancellation of regular season games is expected and the announcement could come within the next couple of days.

NBPA president Derek Fisher said the BRI, or basketball related income, remains one of the biggest issues. The BRI split decides what percentage of all income goes to the players and what percentage goes to the owners.

Under the old collective bargaining agreement, the players were guaranteed a minimum of 57 percent of the BRI.

Fisher said the players offered to reduce their part of the BRI down to 53 percent at Tuesday's meeting.

The owners, however, stood close to their initial proposal. For the past few months, the owners were suggesting a 46 percent share of BRI for players. The owners brought their proposal up to 47 percent by Tuesday's meeting.

NBA commissioner David Stern said the rest of the preseason games will be canceled, and if a deal is not reached by Monday, the first two weeks of the regular season are likely to be canceled.

Stern said the league would lose $200 million from missing the preseason alone.