George M. Cohen is a tough taskmaster. The head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service kept players and owners going for 16 hours Tuesday and into Wednesday morning. And they will be back at the table starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday after only an 8-hour break. Also, he got the two sides to stop talking to the media.
Neither side would comment when talks broke at 2 a.m. but in a signal some progress might have been made, the owners agreed to continue talking. The original plan was for the owners to step away from the talks Wednesday to prepare for a Board of Governors meeting. But after the marathon session, they agreed to keep going. The board will now meet later Wednesday to discuss the talks and revenue sharing.
But Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that that gap between the two sides had only closed on "small stuff". On progress, he quoted a source saying "Very little (had been made). Still not anywhere near a deal." The luxury tax formula appeared to be one major sticking point, with the owners wanting a tax that would make it difficult for rich teams, like the Nets, from going overboard with big contracts.
- Labor talks to continue after little progress - Adrian Wojnarowski - Yahoo! Sports
- N.B.A. Talks Pause After 16-Hour Marathon Meeting - Howard Beck - New York Times
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Marathon mediation leads to another meeting - Ken Berger - CBS Sports
- NBA labor negotiations last 16 hours; more talks planned - Henry Abbott - ESPN
- NBA players and owners meet with mediator - Brian Mahoney - AP
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Little progress made in 16 hours of labor talks. That’s not good - Kurt Helin - NBC Sports
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Marathon meeting for NBA owners, players, but no deal yet - Alan Hahn - New York Newsday
- NBA talks go 16 hours, will resume today - Marc Berman - New York Post
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Players, owners and mediator locked in at Manhattan hotel for 16 hours on 110th day of NBA lockout - Mitch Lawrence - New York Daily News
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NBA lockout talks end after 16 hours, to resume Wednesday - Chris Sheridan - Sheridan Hoops