Marathon negotiations between NBA owners and players failed to deliver a new labor agreement on Thursday, but both sides left negotiations vowing to continue talks to end the lockout.
“There are no guarantees that we’re going to get it done, but we’re going to give it one heck of a shot tomorrow,” NBA commissioner David Stern told reporters at the end of a negotiating session at a Manhattan hotel.
After meeting for 15 hours on Wednesday, owners and players returned to the negotiating table on Thursday and met for nearly eight hours, but were unable to end the four-month-old dispute although there was increasing optimism that an agreement was within reach.
“I think we’re within striking distance of getting a deal,” players’ union boss Billy Hunter said.
Negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement picked up steam after reports earlier this week suggested the league was ready to axe two more weeks from the schedule after already canceling the opening two weeks of the regular season.
If an agreement can be reached by the weekend there are hopes a full 82-game season, which was originally scheduled to begin on Tuesday, might still be played.
Details from the latest round of talks were not released, but it is believed the main stumbling blocks remain how the two sides will divide basketball-related income and the structure of the salary cap system.
NBA owners contend the league lost US$300 million last season with 22 of 30 teams in the red and initially demanded players cut their share of revenues — which was 57 percent under the previous agreement — to 47 percent along with a firm salary cap and shorter contracts.
The players have lowered their proposal to 52.5 percent.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB