NBA cancels remaining games in November
Talks to end the NBA lockout Friday failed again to generate an agreement, and NBA Commissioner David Stern canceled the rest of November’s regular season games.
“We made a lot of concessions, but this time, unfortunately, it’s not enough,” players union Executive Director Billy Hunter told reporters after a five-hour-plus meeting with NBA officials in New York.
Hunter said he felt “snookered,” by NBA Commissioner David Stern, who promised Thursday to make a financial move Friday.
Friday’s talks instead left players moving to accept a 52.5% cut of basketball-related income (BRI) after earning 57%, or $2.17 billion, last season.
Hunter said the NBA wanted the players to move to 50% while accepting concessions on the salary cap/luxury tax arrangement that the union deemed prohibitive.
“We did what [Stern] said [he] needed, and it was like their eyes got bigger,” union President Derek Fisher of the Lakers said. “They just wanted more and more.”
When talks will resume is uncertain, with Fisher telling reporters he’s boarding a flight home to Los Angeles on Friday.
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