After failing to come to an agreement last week, the NBA cancelled a month of games
Usually, the Portland Trailblazers would start their regular season this week. However, with negotiations between NBA owners and players coming to a stand-still last week, the league has officially cancelled all games through Nov. 1, with more cancellations likely to follow.
On Friday, NBA Commissioner David Stern made another announcement about losing more games (first two weeks of games already cancelled), stating that labor talks between both sides broke down after neither the players or the owners would budge on how to fairly split the league’s revenues.
“We held out that joint hope together, but in light of the breakdown of talks, there will not be a full NBA season under any circumstances,” Stern said in a media statement. “It’s not practical, possible or prudent to have a full season now.”
In terms of basketball-related income, the league and its owners insist that revenue is split 50-50, but the players refuse to accept less than 52 percent of the BRI. Players were guaranteed 57 percent in the previous collective bargaining agreement.
Another dividing issue has been the owners proposal of a hard cap on player salaries. Under the old system, teams were able to exceed the set cap limit through a number of exceptions and loopholes, giving owners willing to spend more money a competitive advantage. Union executive director Billy Hunter said the idea of a hard cap is a “blood issue” for players, as they feel it further restricts their earning potential and their rights as free agents.
The league will attempt to hold another meeting at the end of this week or early next week.
“We can’t say that major progress was made in any way, but some progress was made on system issues—obviously enough for us to come back,” Players Union President Derek Fisher said.
