NBA Labor Talks Conclude with No Progress Toward Deal

(NewsCore) - NEW YORK -- The highly anticipated bargaining session between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association ended Tuesday with the two sides no closer to an agreement as the clock ticks toward the start of the season.

"The owners are unwilling to move off of the position on which they've anchored themselves," players union chief Billy Hunter declared after the negotiations concluded, according to CBSSports.com. Hunter said there was not enough progress made to warrant any further talks this week toward bringing the two-and-a-half-month lockout to an end.

And if that news was not bad enough for NBA fans, Hunter went on to say that players are being advised "they may have to sit out half the season before we get a deal."

NBA commissioner David Stern conceded it was "not a great day," but said the owners' goal is still for the season to begin on schedule.

Tuesday's full bargaining session came after some smaller group talks had been held in recent weeks, leading to hopes that when the sides reconvened there would be some movement toward a deal.

The pressure for a compromise is mounting with training camps scheduled to open Oct. 1, the first preseason games set for Oct. 9, and the regular season tipping off Nov. 1.

Hunter told CBSSports.com the sides remain far apart on the salary cap system, with the owners refusing to budge from their demand for the implementation of a hard cap similar to what is used in the NFL and NHL.

"We're not marching towards a deal at this time or at any time we can predict," said Lakers guard Derek Fisher, the players' top negotiator. He added that based on Tuesday's lack of progress he sees no reason to think that training camps will open Oct. 1.

Stern disputed Hunter's contention that the owners have not made any concessions from their June 30 proposal. Deputy commissioner Adam Silver argued that the players' latest proposal is based on the owners agreeing to keep the previous salary cap structure in place.

The owners, claiming they were losing money under the old system, declared a lockout July 1 after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.