Officials from the league and players’ union will rekindle NBA lockout talks on Saturday, just over a week after commissioner David Stern killed the entire November schedule. Good, right? Not so fast. From ESPN.com’s team of Chris Broussard and Henry Abbott:
Saturday’s NBA Lockout Talks May Be ‘Headed Straight For Disaster’
The NBA ownership group's labor committee will reopen talks with the players' side Saturday afternoon, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard, a meeting one general manager, who has spoken with a few owners, described as "headed straight for disaster." [...]
Sources told ESPN.com's Henry Abbott that in a Thursday evening conference call among owners, Michael Jordan of the Charlotte Bobcats was among a vocal group of owners upset at NBA commissioner David Stern for not driving a harder bargain to this point. Should Stern and the labor committee agree to a deal with the union, it would become official with ratification by simple majorities of owners and players. Both are in doubt.
Some players, of course, are talking about a decertification end-around to ensure that the union doesn't accept a deal worse than what players have already offered. As many as 14 of the 29 NBA owners not employed by Stern -- the New Orleans Hornets are in control of Stern-appointed Jac Sperling -- may be opposed to even a 50-50 deal. This is not a situation conducive to nuanced discourse and deal-making, is it?
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