Yesterday’s ultimatum deadline of 5pm ET came and went. The owners and players met for 12 hours yesterday, from about 1pm to 1am. When they broke, it was reported that there was no deal but will reconvene today at noon.
The NBA and the NBA Players Association negotiated Wednesday for eight hours past the league’s stated 5 p.m. ET deadline for a deal and made sufficient-enough progress to schedule another round of talks for Thursday.
Officials on both sides spoke modestly about what was achieved during a session that lasted 12 hours in total and cautioned against getting swept up in the latest wave of optimism around the league that a deal to finally end this 133-day lockout is near.
“There was enough give and take on both sides to merit us both coming back tomorrow,” union executive director Billy Hunter said late Wednesday.
The union was hoping for more after Hunter and union president Derek Fisher, for the first time since the lockout began, were authorized Tuesday by player reps from 29 of the league’s 30 teams to accept a 50/50 split in annual Basketball Related Income if they could secure concessions from the league on the five or so remaining “system” issues that have kept the sides from striking a deal.
Source: ESPN.com
