No NBA in November: Basketball League Paying Double to Prevent Season
David Stern has announced that the NBA will cancel all games through November, a move that will cost the league twice the amount keeping it from an 82-game season.
'Both sides are very badly damaged. The amount of dollars lost to the owners is extraordinary," NBA Commissioner Stern said after negotiations ceased unsuccessfully on Friday. "The amount of dollars lost to players under individual contracts is also extraordinary. You can make computations about who’s going to be able to make it back and who’s not going to be able to make it back."
The issue keeping owners and players from creating a new collective bargaining agreement and beginning a season is the split of the basketball-related income. While owners are offering players a 50-50 split of the revenue, players are insisting on 52.5 percent after the previous CBA gave them 57.
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The difference between what is being offered owners and players is an estimated $100 million, according to NBA.com, while the league’s 121 day lockout has cost $200 million.
Stern said he is unsure of how either side will come back from the loss.
"I’m not sure that any time in the short run the owners will be able to make it back," Stern said in a press conference on Friday. "And I know for a fact that in the short run, the players will not be able to make it back and probably never be able to make it back."
Billy Hunter, NBA Players’ Union executive director reportedly walked out of negotiations after Stern would not budge from his position of a 50-50 split.
"Derek and I made it clear that we could not take the 50-50 deal to our membership. Not with all the concessions that we granted," Hunter said. "We made a lot of concessions, but unfortunately at this time it's not enough, and we're not prepared or unable at this time to move any further."
Stern revealed that the damages from the failed talks are still being assessed.
"We’re going to have to recalculate how bad the damage is," Stern said after six hour talks broke on Friday. "The NBA’s offer will necessarily reflect the extraordinary losses that are starting to pile up now." Stern said.
