Stern Pushing For A Deal This Weekend?
By: Royce Young of cbssports.com
David Stern supposedly was in a very threatening, do-or-die type of mood after Wednesday's labor talks. Reportedly, he's laying the NBA season at the feet of the players telling them it's now or never. While the NBA refutes that, and indeed it does seem unlikely, the reality is there. Get a deal done now or the NBA regular season will be altered.
Which is why there's more of a sense of urgency now than there's ever been. Consider this quote from a team president talking to Yahoo! Sports:
"[Stern's] going to make a real hard push to get a deal this weekend. If the union makes a slight move, David will move. But the players have to blink first."
It's obvious that everyone understands what's at stake. Not just regular season games, but you're risking major momentum and therefore, major money by not getting a deal done. Fans aren't automatically going to just come sprinting back to a game where the players and owners are so greedy that they're willing to sacrafice games. Jeff Van Gundy made a great point to the Star-Ledger about that.
