Stern, Hunter Hold Secret Meetings to End Lockout

So much for the local phase of the NBA talks. . . .

Far from the madding crowds of New York, closer each day to the drop-dead date of Jan. 7, NBA Commissioner David Stern and union director Billy Hunter flew to Los Angeles unannounced Wednesday night for a secret meeting, held in the Century City offices of Shaquille O’Neal’s agent, Leonard Armato.

Armato couldn’t be reached for comment. The NBA confirmed the meeting, claiming Stern and Hunter again got nowhere.

“Absolutely no progress was made,” NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre said.

However, a source says they met again Thursday. McIntyre said they may meet again this weekend.

“The fact that we talked is positive because we hadn’t spoken in a week and a half,” Hunter told Fox Sports.

“What we basically did was, we tried to clear up the negative air that had developed over the last week or so.

“We agreed to sit down for a further discussion that might be meaningful, that might go somewhere. Because we both know time is running,” Hunter said.

Stern made no public comments Thursday. His meeting in Los Angeles with Hunter represented their first face-to-face talks since Dec. 12. Afterward, Stern returned to his vacation home in Aspen, Colo., and Hunter went back to Oakland to spend Christmas with his family.

The Associated Press, quoting unnamed sources, says they may again be close to a deal--if the union accepts the league proposal for capping salaries (25% of the cap for players with up to seven years’ service, 30% for seven-to-nine-year men, 35% for 10 years and above) and the league accepts the union plan for increased minimums ($1 million for seven-year veterans.)

From the league’s perspective, this would seem to work, since increasing minimums will hardly break the bank.

Yet to be proven is whether the high-end players and their agents, who hired Hunter and man key leadership positions in the union, will go for capping the stars.

So far, the first 2 1/2 months of the season have been wiped out. If an agreement were reached around Jan. 7, a season of approximately 45-50 games would begin sometime around Feb. 8.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.