NFL labor issues concern NBA players

NFL workers weren't the only ones affected by Friday's stalemate between the NFL Players Association and owners. Faced with the same threat of a potential work stoppage at the conclusion of this season, NBA players are keeping a close eye on the legal battle between the NFL and its union.

"You hate to see that," Knicks guard Roger Mason, Jr. said. "Obviously, football, the NFL, they have a great game and I was hoping that they would be able to get something done. They weren't and now we're paying close attention."

The collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the union is set to expire on June 30 and if a new one is not agreed upon by midnight, there will be a work stoppage. The NFLPA decertified late Friday after both groups could not come to terms, prompting the NFL to lock out the players and force the league's first work stoppage since 1987.

"That's really a worst-case scenario for us," Mason, Jr. said. "We'd like to get a deal done before that."

Unlike NFL owners, who were accused by the NFLPA of a failure to be financially transparent, NBA owners "have opened their books," he said.

"I think that both sides genuinely don't want to lock out and we've let the owners know that we want to play ball, so hopefully it doesn't get to it," Mason Jr. said. "Hopefully we're able to come to some type of compromise -- both of us -- and continue to play ball because we have a great game."

Asked what non-negotiable sticking points he foresees, he said: "I can't pinpoint one, but there are a few issues: hard caps and contract rollbacks. I think that things like that, I don't know if we'll be able to concede those things."