NBA Talks to Resume Wednesday

(The New York Post) - NBA owners will sit down with the Players Association Wednesday afternoon in New York, less than a week after talks broke down with a federal mediator, sources told the New York Post.

The meeting will be small groups from each side. Commissioner David Stern, who missed the last session on Thursday because of illness, is expected to take part.

Stern said without a deal last week, he feared games could be lost through Christmas. The sides tried, spending 30 hours together while meeting for three straight days for the first time since the lockout began July 1. They made some progress on minor issues, but continue to be stuck on the two main ones.

If no progress is made in the new round of talks, another two weeks of the season would be slashed.

Sources said the owners have relaxed on their demand that negotiations only take place with preconditions that the union accept a 50-50 revenue split.

Last week's federal mediation crashed and burned when the NBA refused to negotiate on other issues if the union did not first accept a 50-50 split. The union's last offer sought a 52.5 percent for the players.

Union director Billy Hunter had charged the NBA would not sit down with them to discuss issues unless the players first accept the 50-50 revenue split. Hunter has contended salary-cap issues go hand-in-hand with the revenue split and said the incident appeared to be another case of the owners not bargaining fairly.

On that front, sources said the National Labor Relations Board is expected to make a decision within two weeks on the union's July complaint regarding unfair bargaining practices by the owners.

Read more: The New York Post