NEW YORK (AP) — NBA talks have started again and are apparently going nowhere.
A downcast Commissioner David Stern said “nothing” gave him reason for encouragement after a 2 ½-hour meeting Monday between owners and players, the first to include leadership from both sides since the lockout began exactly a month ago.
“I don’t feel optimistic about the players’ willingness to engage in a serious way,” Stern said.
Stern added nothing had changed since the last meeting on June 30, hours before the old collective bargaining agreement expired, and said he doesn’t feel players are bargaining in good faith.
Players argue that although owners insist they are committed to making a deal, their proposals say otherwise.
Neither side offered a new proposal Monday, exactly three months before the Nov. 1 scheduled opening of the regular season that seems more in doubt than ever.
Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver were joined by San Antonio owner Peter Holt, who heads the labor relations committee, and Board of Governors chairman and Minnesota owner Glen Taylor represented ownership.
Players’ association Executive Director Billy Hunter, and President Derek Fisher and Vice President Theo Ratliff, both of the Lakers, attended along with union attorneys.
“It’s a tough position to be in,” Fisher said. “I think Peter, Glen Taylor, Commissioner Stern, Adam Silver are articulating certain things in the room, expressing their desire to get a deal done, but where their proposal lies makes it hard to believe that.
“So we’re continuing to try to work around what’s been said and really focus on the deal on the table, and right now we’re still a very, very long way from getting a deal done.”
Fisher said the sides would try to meet at least two or three more times in August. Stern said there is always reason to have meetings, yet made it clear owners feel not enough is happening during them.
“Right now we haven’t seen any movement,” he said, adding “there’s still a very wide gap between us.”