Carmelo Anthony Expects NBA Games To Be Canceled

(NewsCore) - With NBA commissioner David Stern saying the start of the regular season will be canceled if no deal is reached by Monday to end the lockout, Carmelo Anthony said he was not expecting a miracle.

"Right now, it looks like they're going to cancel the first two weeks of the season," the New York forward said after scoring 30 points as his Team Wade beat Team LeBron 141-140 on Saturday night in a charity game put together by Miami stars Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

"Let's be realistic," Anthony added. "I don't think nothing is going to happen between now and Monday. We just got to prepare for that and prepare for the lockout for the first two weeks of the regular season."

Owners and players have been at a stalemate since the lockout began July 1.

Owners, who claim to be losing $300 million a season, want to reduce the share of basketball-related income players get from 57 percent to 50 percent. The players have been willing to cut it down to as low as 51 initially, with it rising slightly after that. But they will not go down to 50.

Anthony, who said he is trying to organize a charity game for November in New York, said, "We'll let [the owners] keep doing what they've been doing. If they want to lock us out, lock us out. We're sticking together as a union, and we'll continue putting games on ... It's sad all the way across. Sad for us as players. It's sad for the whole NBA. Sad for the fans of the NBA."

Even though the players seemed to have plenty of fun Saturday at US Century Bank Arena at Florida International University, there was a feeling of dread that regular-season NBA games are about to be lost for the second time in 14 seasons. The 1998-99 season was shortened by a lockout to 50 games.

"It's been tough," Knicks forward Amar'e Stoudemire said after scoring 21 points. "I know the fans want to see us play. We want to play. We want to play as much as they want to see us play. But it's a matter of taking our time to negotiate the right way."

Read more: FOX Sports Florida