By Art Garcia, NBA.com
Posted Aug 9 2010 4:45PM - Updated Aug 9 2010 5:04PM
The NBA and the NBA Players Association are scheduled to meet Thursday in New York in the first significant collective bargaining meetings since February, sources confirmed to NBA.com Monday.
The last meeting between the two sides in Dallas during the All-Star break turned contentious, as the union took exception to the first contract offer by the league. The union sent the league its own contract proposal in July.
The current CBA expires after the 2010-11 season. The major point of contention between the sides involves the league's financial status. The league projected losses last summer in the neighborhood of $400 million for the just-completed season. Stern said last month that number was closer to $370 million.
The union continues to dispute those loss figures. The NBA did report a substantial increase in revenue for last season, which led to a higher salary cap for this season. The league had initially expected a drop in overall revenues and the cap.
"I would say that our revenues are robust, and it's taking more expense and effort to produce them than it has historically," NBA commissioner David Stern said Monday. "So we are looking for ... we are not pleading poverty. We are pleading the need ... we are stating the need for an approved revenue versus expense model that would be demonstrably sustainable and continued to allow our sport to grow."
Stern acknowledged Monday that the meeting would take place this week, as the league and union work to avoid a lockout after this season. The league's only work stoppage occurred in 1998-99, reducing the season to 50 games.
"We've got a long way to go, but we have a lot of time to get there," Stern said last month in Las Vegas. "That's the optimism that we're going to maintain until we don't. But I think that's a worthy goal, to maintain the optimism in support of seeking a deal."
The players are equally committed.
"We don't want a lockout," NBPA president Derek Fisher said in February. "We don't want our fans to not experience our game. We want to play basketball. That's what we love to do and that's what a lot of us have been blessed to do. There's no desire on our part to not play basketball in 2011-2012.
"At the same time, we understand that collective bargaining is a part of our sport and our business."
The league and union have held several informal meetings at the staff level over the last few months to address financial issues and other matters. Thursday's meeting is the first formal bargaining session since the All-Star break and is expected to include Stern, union president Billy Hunter, other league and union front-office executives, and the league's labor committee.
Further meetings haven't been scheduled, but that could change depending on how Thursday's meeting unfolds.
Stern was also asked Monday the likelihood of a lockout.
"You're asking someone that question who is committed to do anything possible to avoid it," he said. "So I'm not going to put odds on it, because that would mean that we failed, and I don't want to anticipate failure."
