First Two Weeks of NBA Season All But Gone

So much for another one of David Stern’s deadlines.

With Monday looming as the date in which “progress” needed to be made in order to salvage the first two weeks of the season a negotiating session was to occur over the weekend. But no sooner than a meeting was set it was canceled like so many NBC shows this fall.

According to ESPN the owners called off the meeting due to the union’s reluctance to agree to a 50-50 split. This was a condition the owners put on the table just to have the meeting, mind you.

Now call me crazy here but isn’t the point of these meetings to negotiate just these types of issues?

I mean I could be confused but I assumed that’s what bargaining was all about. One side wants it one way and the other sees it in an entirely different light. Somewhere in-between the two reach an agreement.

Not for NBA owners though. Apparently for them negotiations involve agreeing to their terms with no discussion necessary.

After agreeing to a hideous split of 57-43 the owners are looking to get some of their supposed lost revenue back. So far the players have made some steep concessions as they were reported to have dropped down as far as 53%.

But that’s still not good enough for the owners. Not unlike high priced hookers, the owners want their share up front before talks can even begin.

This just furthers the proof of the owners not caring at all about salvaging the season. To put the players in a situation where they’re going to start losing paychecks is exactly the way the owners have planned this.

So much for negotiating in good faith.

I’m not going to turn this into a lament on how we the poor fans are losing out. In reality it is the players that are losing out on collecting the owners’ money while the owners are losing out on collecting our money.

Keep those jackets handy NBA fans. It’s going to be a long winter.