NBA: NBA in lockout after sides fail to reach new deal

NBA NBA NBA in lockout after sides fail to reach new deal 30 Jun 2011, 8:28 pm Union lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, right, and NBA union chief Billy Hunter arrives at a midtown hotel for a meeting with the NBA, Thursday, June 30, 2011 in New York. Negotiators for owners and players will meet Thursday, about 12 hours before the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) â€" AP National Basketball Players Association union president Derek Fisher, center, of the Los Angles Lakers, and Maurice Evans, center right, of the Washington Wizards, arrive at a midtown hotel for a meeting Thursday, June 30, 2011 in New York. Negotiators for owners and players are meeting Thursday, about 12 hours before the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement and seemingly nowhere close to a deal. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) â€" AP Maurice Evans, center, of the Washington Wizards, arrives at a midtown hotel for a meeting Thursday, June 30, 2011 in New York. Negotiators for owners and players are meeting Thursday, about 12 hours before the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement and seemingly nowhere close to a deal. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) â€" AP San Antonio Spurs' Matt Bonner, center, arrives at a midtown hotel for a meeting Thursday, June 30, 2011 in New York. Negotiators for owners and players are meeting Thursday, about 12 hours before the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement and seemingly nowhere close to a deal. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) â€" AP NBA commissioner David Stern, left, and NBA spokesperson Mike Bass arrives at a midtown hotel for a meeting with the players' union, Thursday, June 30, 2011 in New York. Negotiators for owners and players will meet Thursday, about 12 hours before the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) â€" AP NEW YORK â€" NBA players are locked out, possibly jeopardizing next season. Union chief Billy Hunter said Thursday afternoon that owners had locked out the players after failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. With this latest action, two of four major professional sports in the United States are locked out. The NFL locked out its players in March, and the two sides have been in discussions this week, trying to work toward a new deal. Despite a three-hour meeting Thursday, the NBA and its players could not close the enormous gap that remained in their positions. The CBA was due to expire at midnight. All league business is officially on hold, starting with the free agency period that would have opened Friday, and games eventually could be lost, too. The last lockout reduced the 1998-99 season to just a 50-game schedule, the only time the NBA missed games for a work stoppage. "We tried to avoid the lockout; unfortunately, we couldn't reach a deal," union executive committee member Matt Bonner said. The sides remained far apart on just about every major issue, from salaries to the salary cap, revenues to revenue sharing. Players, who previously offered to reduce their salaries by $500 million over five years, considered the owners' proposal for a "flex" cap, where each team would be targeted to spend $62 million, a hard cap. Although the league said total player compensation would never dip below $2 billion over the life of its proposed 10-year deal, that would amount to a pay cut for the players, who were paid more than $2.1 billion this season in salaries and benefits. Owners also wanted a reduction in the players' guarantee of 57 percent of basketball revenues. The Associated Press You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.