NBA.com's Article on Talk turns grim after latest labor negotiating session

Here is the NBA.com's Article on Talk turns grim after latest labor negotiating session:



NEW YORK -- NBA owners and players met again Tuesday with their full bargaining committees, but the initial reactions after a more than five-hour meeting were not positive. No further meetings are immediately planned.

"Just finished a long day of negotiations. Unfortunately we are No Where Near a deal! It's def disappointing!" union rep Roger Mason Jr. of the New York Knicks tweeted immediately afterward.

National Basketbal Players Association head Billy Hunter said the union was willing to move off its stance, but that the league was not willing to negotiate. He also sounded an ominous note about starting the season on time.

"Because of the calendar, we can't come out of this thinking that training camps and the season will start on time," he said.

"It's discouraging and it's unfortunate," said Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher, "but that's the reality of where we are right now."

The two sides started talks about 9 a.m. in a midtown Manhattan hotel.

With less than three weeks until training camps are scheduled to open, both sides know progress must be made soon to avoid having to make cancelations later this month. Both sides have said there is still time to reach a new labor deal that would keep the 2011-12 calendar intact.

After three meetings in the last two weeks between small groups, the owners' labor relations committee and the union's executive committee have rejoined the talks for the first time since late June, before the work stoppage began on July 1.

Among those seen entering the meetings were Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Both are members of the league's labor relations committee.

Players expressed frustration in the early stages of the lockout that owners were still sticking to points from their original proposal of early 2010. That included pay cuts and shorter contracts for the players, along with changes to the current salary cap system.

The process has been more cordial since, even if not significantly more productive, sparking hopes that the sides are more willing to compromise . But Fisher said last week that they couldn't go much further without bringing the large groups, who would help leadership know how to proceed.

"To think about where we were July 1 to now in terms of just the process itself, not what's being discussed and what type of deal it will end up being, just the process itself, we've put in a lot of time,'' he said last week. "And we're going to try to continue that process and see if we can get a fair deal done as soon as possible.''

Players and owners could meet again Wednesday in New York, but the real gauge of how much progress is being made may not be known until later this week when the sides will update their memberships on the state of the negotiations. That comes on Thursday when owners are scheduled to meet in Dallas, while the union is headed to Las Vegas to talk to players taking part in the Impact Academy basketball league.

During the 1998 lockout that reduced the season to 50 games, training camps that were scheduled to open Oct. 5 were postponed on Sept. 24. Camps are scheduled to open Oct. 3 this year.