NBA Preseason Canceled, Regular Season Start in Peril
After a number of of unsuccessful NBA Lockout meetings held this weekend in which commissioner David Stern warned that the league’s labor dispute was dangerously close to dishing out “enormous consequences,” it seems the first repercussions have surfaced as the rest of the NBA preseason has officially been canceled.
“We were not able to make the progress that we hoped we could make and we were not able to continue the negotiations,” Stern told reporters following the announcement.
Stern then added that he would also cancel the first two weeks of the regular season if no agreement is reached by Monday, Oct. 10.
“We’d not like to lose the first two weeks of the regular season, but it doesn’t look good.”
The league’s lockout of players began at 12:01 a.m. July 1, when the sides’ collective bargaining agreement officially expired. Latest reports claim that the players had offered to reduce their share of basketball related income (BRI) — things such as gate receipts, broadcast rights, sponsorships, naming rights and concession sales — to 53% from the 57% they’d been receiving under the old CBA. Owners, however, wanted that number at 47 percent.
“We want to and have been willing to negotiate, but we find ourselves at a point today where we in some ways anticipated or expected to be, faced with a lockout that may jeopardize portions if not all of our season,” said players union president and Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher.
According to reports, an estimated $200 million was lost because of the cancellation of the NBA preseason. The start of the NBA 2011-12 regular season is scheduled for Nov. 1 — less than 30 days away.
Image: 110 Report
