FanShot

espn | Sources: More games to be canceled

1
With talks between the NBA's locked-out players and owners breaking off, commissioner David Stern will announce the cancellation of more games Friday, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard. While the two sides made major progress on the "system" issues during talks Friday, the split of basketball-related income is still holding up a deal, sources close to the situation told Broussard. Both sides are holding firm at their positions, with the owners still seeking a 50-50 split of BRI and the players demanding a 52 percent share, sources said. Players were guaranteed 57 percent in the previous collective bargaining agreement. After two days of making some progress on salary-cap issues, the two sides turned their attention back to the revenue split Friday, the 120th day of the lockout. Talks broke down last week over that issue, and they had not attempted to deal with it since. The sides met for 7½ hours Thursday following a 15-hour marathon the previous day. Though no specifics have been offered, they both said there had been some compromise on system issues. That created optimism that the lockout could be nearing an end, though that was believed possible a couple of times earlier this month, only to be followed by a setback. Sources told Broussard that union executive director Billy Hunter spoke to players earlier Thursday and reiterated the union's stance that players want at least a 52-48 split of basketball-related income.