Adam Silver says CBA negotiations going 'very well,' optimistic for new deal soon
The NBA commissioner is hopeful the league can avoid a lockout this time
•
1 min read
NBA commissioner Adam Silver essentially confirmed the report that the league and the National Basketball Players Association have made progress in collective bargaining negotiations and could finalize a new deal in the coming weeks. At a press conference in Shanghai, Silver said he was optimistic that a lockout could be avoided.
From NBA.com's Fran Blinebury:
"In terms of our present bargaining discussions with the players, I'd say they're going very well and there's been a great sense and spirit of cooperation across the table and desire to move forward," Silver said at a press conference before the Houston Rockets played the New Orleans Pelicans at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
"There's a sense from both the owners and the union management that there is a lot at stake here and I think everyone's feeling the pressure from all the constituents involved in this league for all the jobs that we provide that it's incumbent upon us to work something out and get a deal done."
...
"I'm not going to put any more specific timetable on it than that," Silver said, "but that we continue to meet. In fact, the head of the Players Association, Michele Roberts, was in Spain, where I just came from, where she was accompanying the Oklahoma City Thunder. We had an opportunity to speak there as well. So we continue to be engaged on a regular basis. I remain optimistic that we're going to get something done relatively soon."
It's not time to celebrate just yet, but what more could you hope to hear from the commissioner on this subject? Silver has been saying similar things for years, and former commissioner David Stern even said it before he stepped down: With the league in such a healthy place financially, it would not make any sense for the two sides to fail to figure this out. That has not changed.
While Silver declined to say much in terms of a timetable, the date to keep in mind here is Dec. 15. That's the last day for both sides to opt out of the 10-year CBA that was agreed on in 2011. The plan has always been to have a new deal in place before then.
