NBA, Players to Resume Talks Saturday

(NewsCore) - The NBA owners and players will reconvene Saturday in New York to resume negotiations toward ending the four-month-long lockout, ESPN reported.

The Players Association's negotiating committee is set to gather in New York Thursday in advance of the next round of talks with the owners.

The NBPA's internal meeting comes on the heels of a FOX Sports report that claimed union president Derek Fisher and executive director Billy Hunter were at odds on whether to accept the owners' offer for a 50-50 split of basketball-related income (BRI).

The issue of how to divide BRI has been the main roadblock to a deal, with the last round of talks concluding Friday with the players refusing to accept a 50-50 split.

The report last weekend claimed Fisher was secretly negotiating an even split with the owners, and that an unnamed player confronted him about it, since the union was refusing to go lower than a 52-48 split.

Fisher adamantly denied the report earlier this week and wrote a letter to NBA players affirming his loyalty.

"The Players Association is united and any reports to the contrary are false," he wrote in an email Tuesday. "There have been no side agreements, no side negotiations or anything close. We are united in serving you and presenting the best options and getting everyone back to work."

Hunter told the Sports Business Journal Monday that there was no confrontation with Fisher and that their relationship was "very good."

Meantime, Miami Heat owner Micky Arison appeared to confirm last Friday on Twitter that there is division between large and small market owners over the BRI split.

After the talks broke down yet again with no agreement, Arison responded to a tweet from an angry fan by writing, "You are barking at the wrong owner." The response drew a $500,000 fine from commissioner David Stern for violating the league-imposed gag order.

The NBA season was scheduled to start Tuesday night, but Stern has so far canceled all games through the end of this month.

Read more: ESPN