Large group of players at NBA labor talks

The NBA is expected to hold off on a lockout vote at Tuesday's Board of Governors meeting in Dallas and instead focus on another meeting with the players' union the following day in Manhattan. The current collective bargaining agreement will expire on Thursday.

"We have meetings scheduled now for after that board meeting," NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver said Friday, "so I think it would be premature to talk about where we're going to find ourselves next week."

There were indications after the previous session on Tuesday that the league might put the move to lock out the players to a vote in their upcoming owners' meeting. But while there wasn't any progress made in negotiating the salary-cap system, there was a feeling of progress in the understanding of the issues that both sides presented.

"I think that the nature of the discussion was such that they may find it difficult to pull the trigger," union executive director Billy Hunter said. "Even though we didn't make any progress, I think they felt the energy and attitude within the room was such that it might necessitate further discussion."

Said commissioner David Stern, "The one thing we don't want is a lockout. We've told the players that."

The atmosphere might have been aided by the presence of Hunter's constituents, as a large group of players attended to emphasize their show of solidarity. They did it not only with their presence, but with T-shirts that read "STAND" across the front.

But really their most impressive action was to listen. Over 30 players, including Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, sat in on the talks, which did not include a counterproposal from the union, but instead involved an open discussion about the league's goals with the new agreement and system. There were as many as 10 players who interjected or asked questions during the meeting, which lasted about five hours.

"It helped, for us, make a lot of progress in understanding where our owners stand," union president Derek Fisher said.

Stern said it was "great to have so many players in the room" and felt it was important for them to hear directly from the league what the intentions were and how the system would work, rather than hear it second- or third-hand.

"I think that sometimes by not being part of the dialogue, by not hearing the expression of the other side's point of views, by not observing the give-and-take and not engaging in the give and take, you lose something," Stern said. "We were hoping that more players would come and we were actually cheered by the fact that they were there."

But there was still noticeable disappointment in the fact that there was no counterproposal. Asked why the union didn't make a proposal, Hunter replied, "We felt the one we made previously was sufficient."

After the union's proposal on Tuesday, the league responded with a counter that included a hard cap system similar to the NHL's format, which the NBA called a "flex cap." The system has a "midrange" salary that teams can go above or below within a negotiated range. But the fact that the range has a limit makes it a hard cap -- and the system would still result in a massive decrease in player income -- and that's something the union remains against.

"There's still such a large gap," Fisher said. "We feel any move for us is real dollars we'd be giving back from where we currently stand, as opposed to where our owners have proposed numbers that, in our estimation, don't exist right now. They're asking us to go to a place they want us to go."

At this point, the league just wants to get the union back to the negotiating table before the calendar flips to July and the reality of a lockout must be faced.

"We're still talking," Stern said, "and that's always a positive thing."