No Deal Yet: NBA Players Union and Owners to Meet Again

The bad news is that a deal isn’t close to getting done, but it’s not all bad. The two sides continue to meet, and they’re reportedly drawing closer to an agreement on the BRI split. Per Yahoo! Sports: “While the league’s owners and players made progress in Wednesday’s 8½-hour mediation session, one source involved in the talks was hesitant to characterize it as a ‘breakthrough’ moment, saying system issues could again derail talks. The two sides will resume mediation at 2 p.m. ET Thursday following the conclusion of the owners’ board of governors meetings. The owners are meeting to discuss a new revenue-sharing plan, and what type of proposal they present to the players on Thursday will determine whether the labor talks continue to gather momentum. Still, the biggest hurdle between the two sides remains the luxury tax proposals to punish big-spending teams and discourage them from overpaying players. The NBA wants to limit players’ ‘Larry Bird Rights’ they enjoy now by forbidding teams to go over the cap to pay their current players. They also want to restrict teams over the cap from using the midlevel and biannual exceptions to sign players on an every-year basis. The players contend the restrictions will act as a de facto hard salary cap.”