With the NBA and NBAPA far away from a resolution that will keep basketball going beyond July 1st, David Stern took the podium for a pre-Finals press conference to assure us that the league is doing all it can to get a deal done. Uh huh. Goodell used that line before.
Stern did admit that it would be a challenge to get a deal done before a lockout would occur. Perhaps because a lockout would be to the owner’s benefit.
The NBA Commissioner acknowledged Tuesday it will be "a challenge" to reach a deal for a new collective bargaining agreement before the current one expires in a month.
"The question is whether the owners and the players will be bold enough to do what has to be done here to keep this sport on the track that it is on now, which is straight up," Stern said during his annual news conference before Game 1 of the NBA finals.
Both sides have scheduled more talks that will likely be unproductive, and then the ego slaps and public shaming should begin, followed by preliminary court proceedings, injunctions, and appeals. Look for the process to wrap up some time around November and for the fans to not actually care who wins as they just want to watch some basketball.