Way to celebrate signing your extension, Victor...

viaYahoo's Kelly Dwyer. Thank you Jerry West for bringing more public attention to this disease.

A can't-miss article from Henry Abbott at TrueHoop, about just how close the players and owners might have been to a deal, and how it ended in one moment, when four players said it was unacceptable. "The players had two pieces of news that shocked the league: 50/50 was not good enough. And there was nothing further to discuss." The players say won't cave for any offer under 53/47, nor will they bend on other issues. ("...when you talk to players now there is religious fervor, around the number 53, and around not giving owners any freebies on the other issues.") Hope you don't enjoy watching pro basketball, everyone.

A few days back周二,NBA总裁大卫·斯特恩为我mportant deadline for the ongoing labor negotiations with the National Basketball Players Association. If a deal is not struck during Tuesday's talks, which will be led by a federal mediator, Stern said that the NBA's annual Christmas Day games could be in jeopardy. On Friday, NBPA president Derek Fisher and executive director Billy Hunter struck back against those threats following a union regional meeting in Los Angeles. ------------------------------- Fisher: "That's an arbitrary deadline just to throw out on commissioner Stern's part. We don't see it that way. Obviously he's entitled to make the statement but it just seems very arbitrary and with no real purpose other than to sway player sentiment. I don't agree with the way it's been done but I'm not him so I can't speak to that part of it." Hunter: "George Cohen, the federal mediator, was proposing that we actually set all of next week aside. The entire week, for mediation. It's because of the NBA's schedule and the commissioner's alleged inability to get together with us over four or five days, I think he set the sort of superficial, arbitrary deadline saying that if it doesn't happen by Tuesday then all these other things will evolve as a consequence." ------------------------------- Hunter also added: "I think [the situation] can only get worse for both of us [if more games are cancelled]. If somebody is pointing a gun at my head, I'm going to point one back at him." -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Looks like he got fouled a lot...

Eric HalvorsonofWISHTV.com reportsthat a group of 14 mayors whose cities have NBA franchises wrote a joint letter addressed to NBA commissioner David Stern and National Basketball Players Association executive director Billy Hunter urging a labor deal so that the 2011-2012 season could be saved.这是a PDFof the letter. An excerpt follows. --------------------------------- We respectfully ask that you consider the consequences to our cities should the lockout continue. We ask that you work quickly to find a way to compromise so that we might salvage the upcoming NBA season. We are proud to call our cities home to NBA franchises. As basketball fans, we know winning and losing is part of the game. Rest assured; everyone loses if there is no season. --------------------------------- Former NBA All-Stars Kevin Johnson and Dave Bing, mayors of Sacramento and Detroit, respectively, were among the group that penned the letter. Portland mayor Sam Adams was not among the undersigned. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

The NBA players all met today to stress unity ahead of Monday's mediation meeting with the owners. However, cracks are starting to show. [From ESPN] "There's definitely some guys in there saying that they're ready to fold," Washington Wizards center JaVale McGee said. "But the majority are ready to stand strong." For me, the cracks in the players aren't the ones ready to fold, that number will inevitably increase over the next month. It's the fact that at least one player is publicly admitting it.

Adrian WojnarowskiofYahoo! Sports reportsthat Philadelphia 76ers executive Ed Stefanski and the Raptors have "hit a snag" in their discussions for Stefanski to take over the GM role in Toronto. This could mean that Stefanski is now back in play for the Portland Trail Blazers' open GM position. ----------------------------------- It’s unclear what caused the talks between Toronto president Bryan Colangelo and Stefanski to come undone, but several sources said what seemed inevitable a week ago – the hiring of Stefanski – has been derailed. Stefanski is trying to become more engaged in the Trail Blazers’ search, sources said. ----------------------------------- Over atRaptorsHQ,Adam Francishas conducted a two-part interview about Stefanski (hereandhere) withMichael LevinofLiberty Ballers.Last weekit was reported that Stefanski was near a deal with the Raptors shortly after his namecame upwith respect to Portland's position, which has remained open since former GM Rich Cho was abruptly fired back in May. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter