NBA and players end labor talks, no new dates scheduled

Despite having a federal mediator on hand, the NBA and the players union broke off labor talks after five hours of negotiations Thursday in New York, and no new meetings are scheduled.

"Ultimately we were unable to bridge the gap that separate the two parties," said Adam Silver, the NBA's deputy commissioner. "We understand the ramifications. ... We're saddened on behalf of the game."

San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt said, "Hopefully, we can get back to the [bargaining] table, but certainly a tough day, a very tough day."

The negotiations apparently broke off because of a disagreement over how to split basketball-related income. Silver said the league offered to split BRI 50-50 with the union, but the union said it wanted at least 52.5%.

However, players union head Billy Hunter said they offered to accept a sliding scale of 50% to 53% of basketball revenue, but the owners held out for a strict 50-50 split.

"They thought 50% met their need," Hunter said of the owners. "I think it's all about putting money in their pocket."

In the previous labor deal, players received 57% of BRI, worth about $2.17 billion in total salaries last season. The NBA locked out the players July 1.

Owners and players met with federal mediator George Cohen for 30 hours over three consecutive days this week but could not reach an agreement.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has already canceled the first two weeks of the regular season. "I just assume as time goes on they'll cancel more games," Hunter said.

Stern did not attend Thursday's session because he was sick with the flu.

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-- Barry Stavro

Photo: Roger Mason Jr. of the New York Knicks arrives for NBA labor talks Thursday in New York. Credit: Frank Franklin II / Associated Press.

 

NBA mediation talks end for the day, are set to resume Thursday

Another day, another grueling negotiating session.

Wednesday's mediation session between NBA owners and locked-out players was halted before 4 p.m. PDT, and talks are to resume Thursday.

Federal mediator George Cohen told reporters in New York that Wednesday's session was stopped after nearly nine hours of talks to allow NBA owners and Commissioner David Stern to attend a previously scheduled NBA Board of Governors meeting, also in New York.

Cohen has instituted a gag order on the labor meetings as both sides work to bridge gaps over how to split basketball-related income (BRI). Last season, players received 57% of BRI, or about $2.17 billion in total salaries.

The sides had a 16-hour marathon session with Cohen that started Tuesday and ended early Wednesday morning EDT.

NBA lockout: Live video chat with Mike Bresnahan and Broderick Turner

Did you miss our live video chat with Times Lakers reporters Mike Bresnahan and Broderick Turner? You can watch a replay below.

 

--Houston Mitchell

 

NBA labor talks resume after post-midnight session

Efforts to end the NBA lockout have resumed with labor talks with a federal mediator presiding Wednesday.

The session follows a grueling 16-plus-hour session that concluded just after 2 a.m. Wednesday. The mediator, George Cohen, instituted a gag order that kept the sides from assessing any progress.

The length of today's meeting is uncertain given the need of some owners to attend the NBA's Board of Governors gathering today, also in New York.

An NBA spokesman said Wednesday that the owners' planning committee meeting has been moved to "early this evening," as a result of the labor talks.

The Board of Governors are expected to discuss -- and possibly approve -- a revised revenue-sharing program that would help clarify how teams can improve upon a financial system that the league claims created $300 million in losses last season, with 22 of 30 teams losing money.

The planning committee is charged with tackling revenue sharing.

As the owners and players started negotiating Tuesday, they each wanted a 53% split of basketball-related income (BRI) after the players earned 57% last season -- about $2.17 billion. The sides were also divided on the owners' idea of establishing a hard salary cap or extremely prohibitive luxury tax that the players argue would reduce guaranteed money and contract length.

--Lance Pugmire   

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Photo: Federal mediator George Cohen. Credit: Brendan McDermid / Reuters

Bryant Gumbel evokes slavery: David Stern like 'plantation overseer'

Bryant Gumbel had some harsh words for David Stern, sure to spark controversy, in Tuesday night's episode of HBO's "Real Sports," evoking imagery of slavery in describing the NBA commissioner's treatment of players.

During his commentary at the close of the show, the Emmy-winning host said Stern appeared to want the image of "some kind of modern plantation overseer" and said the commissioner treats the players like they were "his boys" and "hired hands":

"Stern's version of what has been going on behind closed doors has of course been disputed, but his efforts were typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys. It's part of Stern's M.O., like his past self-serving edicts on dress code and the questioning of officials. His moves were intended to do little more than show how he's the one keeping the hired hands in their place."

Gumbel, who has made headlines with racially charged comments in the past, acknowledged during the rant that his comments would get some negative attention -- he also acknowledged that he didn't care.

"Some will of course cringe at that characterization but Stern's disdain for the players is as palpable and pathetic as his motives are transparent," Gumbel said.

Back in 2006, Gumbel referred to then NFL Players Assn. executive director Gene Upshaw as then league commissioner Paul Tagliabue's "personal pet," according to SportsBusinessNews.

That same year, Gumbel made this comment about the Winter Olympics, according to NewsBusters.org: "Try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention."

The NBA owners locked out their players when the old collective bargaining agreement expired June 30. The exhibition season and first two weeks of the regular season have already been cancelled. Stern spent 16 hours Tuesday with owners, players and a federal mediator in the latest attempt to salvage the season.

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-- Chuck Schilken

Video: nbavideosnow2 / YouTube

NBA lockout: Which teams benefit most, least?

 
Writers from around Tribune Co. will discuss the topic. Check back throughout the day for their responses and feel free to join the conversation by leaving a comment of your own.

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Considering their lame-duck status in New Jersey, the Nets would prefer the NBA calendar simply flip to 2012-13, when they become the Brooklyn Nets.

The NBA's ultimate limbo franchise, one awaiting a new location and a new arena, the Nets still are looking to add one more piece to their core, while trying to lock up Deron Williams as a component of that core.

In a perfect world, the Nets wouldn't have to bother with another game in front of sparse crowds in Newark.

By contrast, the team that least benefits from an extended lockout is the Heat, with each day without basketball meaning a day without the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Remember, the clock is ticking, with each of the three eligible to opt out of their contracts in the 2014 offseason. Micky Arison and Pat Riley will never have as much to sell as they do now.

NBA lockout: Which players will hurt most, least?

The discord between the NBA Players Assn. and the league's owners may be a boon for some and curse for others.

So far, two weeks have been shaved off of the season. While that will give the veterans a chance to rest their achy bones, it may squelch other players' momentum.

Who will benefit most from the lockout? And who is hit hardest?

Lockout, Go Away!

Blake Griffin -- After being drafted by the Clippers as the first overall pick in 2009, Griffin sustained a broken left kneecap in the final preseason game. He missed the entire season. The lockout threatens to keep him off the court once again. Griffin, a stunning high fly act who averaged 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds in his rookie debut last season, needs all the experience he can get to reach his potential. Also, his body can only handle those monster dunks for so long. Keeping him away from the hardwood could rob Clippers fans of some great posterization. (Yes, I may have made up that word.)

LeBron James -- My mouth tastes like metal after just typing those words. James averaged 17.8 points during the Finals, down 8.9 points from his regular season average of 26.7 points. It was the largest drop in league history. After his weak clutch showing, the Web started buzzing with jokes such as: "If you ask LeBron James to break a dollar, he'll only give you 75 cents. Why? Because he never has the fourth quarter." James needs to play as soon as possible to take the sour taste out of our mouths and show why he's nicknamed "King James."

NBA, players' union head to mediation next week

Billy Hunter, head of the National Basketball Players Assn., told a New York radio station that a mediator has been summoned to the next meeting between NBA owners and locked-out players.

The mediator is George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service who mediated in the NFL labor dispute earlier this year. Cohen told the Associated Press the meeting will be Tuesday, although Hunter said the sides will meet on Monday.

"We are working on scheduling a meeting for early next week," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said.

A basketball official told The Times the mediator's presence was not related to opposing complaints the sides have filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

In an e-mail Wednesday, Cohen wrote: “For a number of months I have participated in separate, informal, off-the-record discussions with the principals representing the NBA and the NBPA concerning ... their collective bargaining negotiations.  It is evident that the ongoing dispute will result in a serious impact, not only upon the parties directly involved, but ... more generally, on the economy of every city in which those games are scheduled to be played.

"In these circumstances, the Agency has invited, and the parties have agreed, to convene further negotiations under my auspices. The meetings will commence in New York City on Tuesday."

NBA lockout: How much more of the season will be canceled? [Poll]

So we know the first two weeks of the 2011-12 NBA season will not happen because of the lockout. But is that all the court time we are going to miss?

Will the NBA be back for the big Christmas Day slate of games? Will it return around the time the NFL season ends, just like in 1999?

Or will there be no season?

Writers from around the Tribune Co. will be discussing the topic -- check back throughout the day for more responses. And join in the discussion by voting in the poll and leaving a comment of your own.

[Updated at 12:24 p.m.:

Barry Stavro, Los Angeles Times

All entertainment conglomerates love sequels, so let’s call this one: 1998-99, version 2.0.

Granted, David Stern really likes his marquee games on Christmas Day, but those will pass without a game being played.

Then, like the last NBA work stoppage 13 years ago, around the first of January the huffing and puffing by the labor combatants will intensify, saying this the absolute last chance to s-a-l-v-a-g-e the season. So Stern and players union boss Billy Hunter will convene once again, someone will blink first, and the framework of a new labor deal will be reached.

And voila, like the last time, around early February the games will begin ... in a compressed regular season format of about 50 games.

K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune

The easy answer to when the NBA lockout ends is whenever the league wins. That the two sides spent all last week negotiating the split of basketball-related income and then -- on the day Commissioner David Stern announced cancellations -- huge gaps on all system issues were revealed, suggests it will be awhile.

The owners aren't losing this one. The comments of Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver about all 30 teams needing a chance to win a title means increased revenue sharing and stiffer luxury tax penalties will be in place, even if, technically, a hard salary cap isn't. But the owners will get their way. The union acts and sounds as if it's united, even though players will miss paychecks now.

So I'm guessing late December or early January. That's better than an entire season, which was my guess over the summer. I do think the amount of negotiating that has transpired is a good sign. That's about the only one. 

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, in every single way.

When it comes to NBA lockout history, that actually would be a step forward, considering the only previous NBA lockout, in 1998-99, did not end until January 1999, with games starting in February.

Since then, much has changed when it comes to the NBA's Christmas showcases, with the league essentially taking over the day's schedule when the NFL is not in the way.

While there had been hope of something sooner, to make a dramatic turn at this stage would come off as a concession by the union or the commissioner. And each side has come too far to back down now.

The NBA until Christmas is little more than background noise.  You would be surprised how many NBA players during November and December check at the scorers' table during timeouts for NFL and NCAA updates.

So Christmas it is, even for those who have been naughty, with a lockout not so nice.]

[Updated at 1:12 p.m.:

Zach McCann, Orlando Sentinel

No matter how they posture in the media, neither the owners nor the players want to miss an entire NBA season.

The owners have the stronger arm in the negotiations -– because they control the money -– but they collectively earn hundreds of millions of dollars every NBA season and don’t want to erase all the momentum the league built last season. And the players will begin missing paychecks in mid-November, a consequence that’ll certainly add more urgency to the negotiations.

I believe once the season’s mortality truly comes into question -– in December or early January -– the two sides will strike a deal and we’ll see a shortened, 50-game season, just like the NBA’s last extended lockout in 1998-99.

The owners will ultimately win the deal because they own all the leverage.

And it would cost both sides too much to miss an entire season.]

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Photo: Derek Fisher, center, president of the NBA players union, is joined by union Executive Director Billy Hunter, right, and other NBA players during a news conference Sept. 15. Credit: Julie Jacobson / Associated Press

NBA lockout: Whose side are you on? [poll]

It's official. Commissioner David Stern canceled the first two weeks of the NBA season after a lengthy negotiating session with locked-out players in New York failed to achieve a new collective bargaining agreement.

Stern, his deputy Adam Silver and selected owners met with union executive director Billy Hunter and president Derek Fisher, working into the night to solve differences on how to divide income and handle caps on each team’s costs.

Thirteen hours of talks in two days, and still no deal.

Who do you side with? Vote in our poll below, and, if you are a Facebook member, leave a comment below telling us why you voted the way you did.

 

 

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--Lance Pugmire and Houston Mitchell

David Stern: First two weeks of NBA season canceled

NBA Commissioner David Stern on Monday announced the cancellation of the first two weeks of the regular season after a lengthy negotiating session with locked-out players in New York failed to achieve a new collective bargaining agreement.

Stern, his deputy Adam Silver and selected owners met with union executive director Billy Hunter and president Derek Fisher, working into the night to solve differences on how to divide income and handle caps on each team’s costs.

Thirteen hours of talks in two days, and still no deal.

We’ll have more later at latimes.com/sports.

-- Lance Pugmire

Photo: NBA Commissioner David Stern arrives for labor negotiations today in New York. Credit: Louis Lanzano / Associated Press