NBA Cancels First Two Weeks Of Regular Season

The players and owners met for more than seven hours Monday, but still could not come to an agreement.

Monday, October 10th 2011, 10:22 pm

By: News 9


Corey DeMoss, News9.com

NEW YORK CITY – NBA commissioner David Stern announced Monday that the first two weeks of the basketball schedule have officially been canceled.

Stern's announcement came after the NBA players and owners met for more than seven hours, but still could not come to a new labor agreement. CBSSports.com reported that Stern said there is still "a gulf" between the two sides, and that they are "very, very far apart on virtually all issues."

The previous NBA collective bargaining agreement ran out on July 1, beginning the current lockout. The players and owners have met several times in the four months since then, but still have been unable to make much headway.

The biggest sticking point has been the way the players and owners will split Basketball Related Income (BRI). Under the previous agreement, players possess 57 percent of that income, but owners wanted that number reduced.

Reports indicate the players agreed to lower the number to 53 percent, but the owners wanted that same percentage in their own favor. The two sides have continued to argue back and forth on the topic and have been unable to reach a compromise.

The lockout caused the NBA to cancel its preseason on Oct. 5, and at that time Stern set Monday as the deadline for reaching an agreement without affecting the regular season.

With Monday's extended meeting yielding no results, Stern did not say when the two sides will try talking again. The longer the situation continues, the more games will be canceled.

Yahoo basketball reporter Adrian Wojnarowski said via Twitter that an NBA general manager texted him, "Now it gets ugly. God help us."

The last time the NBA had to cut games because of a lockout came in 1998-1999, when the players and owners did not reach an agreement until January. That year, the regular season was shortened to 50 games.

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