NEW YORK -- No progress was made in NBA labor talks Friday, unless
progress can be measured by the absence of angry rhetoric or the
unveiling of a fashion statement.
Owners and players met for about
four hours Friday with just six days remaining until the expiration of
the current collective bargaining agreement, and they agreed to meet
again next Wednesday or Thursday after the owners hold a meeting in
Dallas on Tuesday.
But neither side made a proposal after each
made one in the previous meeting, and the sides remained several billion
dollars apart with the possibility of a lockout growing stronger by the
day.
About 50 players attended the meeting dressed in matching
dark gray T-shirts with the word "STAND" written on the front in block
letters, perhaps sending a signal that the union is taking a harder
stance after its recent $500 million giveback was dismissed by
commissioner David Stern as "modest."
Among the players who do not usually take part in negotiations, but who were in attendance Friday were Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics, Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks, Andre Iguodala of Philadelphia, Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers and Josh Childress of the Phoenix Suns.
"They were nicely done," Stern said of the players' matching T-shirts. "And by the way, I would add this: It was great to have so many players in the room. I think sometimes by not being part of the dialogue, by not hearing the expression of the other side's point of views, by not observing and engaging in the give-and-take, you lose something. So we were hoping that more players would come, and we were actually cheered by the fact that they were there, and some of the new players did make themselves heard."
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