NBA Talks End With No New Deal
NEW YORK (CBSMiami.com) – Miami Heat fans hoping to see their team chase another NBA Championship are likely out of luck for the rest of the 2011 calendar year.
Talks between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association broke down again on Friday and Commissioner David Stern cancelled all games through November 30th.
Just like last week, it looked like an agreement was in reach; then one side refused to budge and the talks disintegrated.
According to multiple reports, the talks ended when the NBA players refused to accept less than 52 percent of the basketball related income, or the total money taken in by the league each year.
The BRI dispute was reportedly the only thing standing in the way of a new NBA season.
The impasse again pointed to the stubbornness of both sides to actually take the negotiations seriously.
The players have given up five percent of BRI, but the owners' greed still wants more. It was reported that the sides were just $100 million apart on the first year of the contract.
But here's where it just descends into lunacy.
According to CNBC.com's Darren Rovell, missing a month of the NBA season will cost both sides $400 million. On the flip side, dropping to 51 percent of the BRI on a 7 year deal will only cost the players $280 million.
Sadly, that's where the talks stand: one side trying to run up the score; and the other not seeing the forest for the trees in a type of gamesmanship that will come back to bite them in the end.
