Remember all that "important and additional progress" NBA Commissioner David Stern was anticipating during Friday’s labor talks?
Apparently neither does he.
That’s because Stern Friday cancelled all NBA games through Nov. 30, dealing a mighty blow to optimistic fans who were encouraged by the lengthy meetings that transpired to close out the week.
ESPN has it straight from the horse’s mouth:
"It’s not practical, possible or prudent to have a full season now. We’re going to have to recalculate how bad the damage is. The next offer will reflect the extraordinary losses that are piling up now," Stern said.
The owners continue to push for a 50-50 split, a figure that Union Executive Director Billy Hunter will not accept:
"Derek and I made it clear that we could not take the 50-50 deal to our membership. Not with all the concessions that we granted. We said we got to have some dollars. We made a lot of concessions, but unfortunately at this time it’s not enough, and we’re not prepared or unable at this time to move any further."
At this point it doesn’t look like either side is willing to move further, and Stern is already threatening to come back with a stiffer deal, when and if negotiations resume, to compensate for time already lost.
The prospect of playing basketball after Nov. 30 is suddenly looking very bleak.
For more on the breakdown of Friday's labor talks click here.