USA/CAN - Rest of pre-season cancelled because of lockout

NEW YORK (NBA) - The NBA has cancelled the remainder of its pre-season because of the lockout, and the first couple of weeks of the 2011-12 campaign will be lost if a new labor agreement is not found by Monday.

Talks between owners and the players' union aimed at ending the lockout that began on Friday and concluded on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

According to NBA commissioner David Stern, the league is losing $200million with the pre-season being wiped away.

It's going to get worse if the two sides can't find a common ground.

"We were not able to make the progress that we hoped we could make and we were not able to continue the negotiations," Stern said.

"By Monday, we will have no choice but to cancel the first two weeks of the season."

At issue is the need for a new collective agreement.

The old one, which expired at the end of June, assured the players would receive 57% of basketball related income (BRI).

Twenty-two of the league's teams lost money last season and owners have been seeking a reduction in BRI for the players.

During Tuesday's negotiations, players are understood to have been willing to accept 53% of BRI, but the owners proposed 47% - 1% more than their original offer.

There were discussions inside what Stern called a "very, very small group" on whether a 50-50 split of BRI was possible.

According to ESPN, Stern, NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver and San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt had a small-group meeting with Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Derek Fisher and union lawyer Jeffrey Kessler.

"While we were in the process of doing that ... we were advised by the players that that would not be acceptable to them," Stern said.

"At that point it didn't seem to make a lot of sense to continue."

"Today was not the day to get this done," Union president Derek Fisher said.

"We were not able to get close enough to close the gap."

Silver says there should be no doubting the owners' desire to find an agreement.

"We're long past the point where we're trying to get 100% of what we were looking for," Silver said.

"We haven't made a secret of the fact that we'd very much like to make a deal."

During the lockout, some players have signed to play for overseas teams.

When asked about players going abroad to compete for foreign clubs, Stern said: "Those are their rights, we have no reaction to that other than to be safe.

"It's not an issue at all for the owners."

FIBA