Negotiations between NBA players and club owners have come to a halt regarding their financial dispute, resulting in the cancellation of the remaining pre-season games.
Without any new discussions scheduled, it’s likely that the regular-season games on Tuesday (EDT) will also face cancellation.
More than four hours of bargaining committees’ meetings ended without success in resolving a shutdown related to financial disagreements that has persisted for 96 days, following the owners’ lockout of players after the previous agreement expired on July 1.
“By Monday, we will have no option but to cancel the first two weeks of the season,” stated NBA commissioner David Stern.
“We did not achieve the progress we had hoped to.”
Billy Hunter, the executive director of the NBA players association, indicated that discussions might not take place for another month or two – a situation that could realistically extend the cancellation of NBA games until at least 2012.
“We have nothing arranged, but we are not jumping to conclusions,” Stern mentioned.
“The word we received was that it wasn’t going to happen.”
Previously, NBA club owners had canceled pre-season training camps and eliminated 43 pre-season games scheduled up until October 15.
With two additional weeks of exhibitions being lost on Tuesday, Stern estimated that the NBA has already suffered a financial loss of $210 million.
“We’re facing the possibility of losing regular-season games,” Stern remarked.
“A significant impact is approaching for both the owners and the players.”
by Buford Balony
