NBA sides to meet after Thanksgiving

By ALAN HAHNalan.hahn@newsday.comNovember 23, 2011

The NBA and players are expected to resume negotiations tomorrow in New York in a desperate attempt to end the lockout and start an abbreviated season by Christmas Day.

Jonathan Schiller, one of the lead lawyers for the players, said in a statement Wednesday that 'there would be preliminary settlement discussions with the NBA immediately after Thanksgiving with regard to the lawsuit filed recently by the players in Minnesota."

NBA commissioner David Stern has said the league needs 30 days from an agreement to begin a season. The Christmas Day games are important to the league because they kick off the national television schedule for the season. The Knicks were scheduled to play the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden on Christmas as part of a tripleheader on ABC/ESPN.

This will be the first time the sides have held formal discussions since collective bargaining ended on Nov. 11. Since then, the players rejected a revised proposal presented by the owners and the union was dissolved, which allowed the players to file an antitrust lawsuit against the league. A case is currently in Minnesota district court.

Billy Hunter, the executive director of the NBA Players Association and now a member of the players' legal team, said on Tuesday that he anticipated a magistrate would be assigned to preside over court-ordered settlement talks. When asked if the sides had held any talks on their own, Hunter said no, but did add, "I would suspect if the hope is to get the season on by Christmas, that should probably pick up, either directly or by way of backchannel."

The "backchannel" process, however, may have already been under way. Former NBPA lead counsel Jim Quinn has served as a broker in such conversations over the past week, according to a report by CBSSports.com. Quinn confirmed to the website that he has spoken with Hunter and Stern.

And the two reopened a dialogue over the last two days, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation. An NBA official would not confirm or deny the meetings, but instead said that the league "remains in favor of a negotiated resolution." Yahoo! Sports first reported the talks Wednesday afternoon.

One source, however, remained skeptical that there was enough time to have regular-season games by Christmas.

"You'd have to have a handshake agreement by Friday," the source said.