George Cohen, the federal mediator who was unsuccessful in helping the league and players’ union end the NBA lockout in October, will oversee Saturday’s negotiations, reports Ken Berger of CBS Sports. Cohen left the table on October 20 after owners allegedly presented the union with a take-it-or-leave-it revenue split offer. NBA commissioner David Stern was not at that fateful meeting, as he was recovering from the flu at home.
NBA Lockout: Federal Mediator George Cohen To Join Saturday Talks
After Cohen departed, the league and union held another set of talks, but the revenue split still couldn’t be settled. The players won’t move higher than 52 percent, after receiving 57 percent of league revenue in the last deal. The owners are pushing for a 50-50 revenue split.
Under Cohen’s watch, the two sides did make progress on a host of salary cap system issues. It’s believed that few system issues remain at stake, and that those can be dictated in concert with the revenue split in a bit of chip trading.
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