The season won’t be cancelled, the season will be cancelled; the negotiations are on, the negotiations are off; we’ll (European clubs) sign the players, we won’t sign the players. Confusion remains in the best basketball league in the world.
The NBA players are still locked-out and talks remain stalled.
Responding to a question regarding where negotiations are at in a recent podcast, NBA commissioner David Stern said that the demands from players were too demanding.
Stern’s answer to the follow up inquiring about what he went back with, the commissioner replied that he walked away from the table – they asked for too much.
Over the last several weeks there has been ample discussion about players taking their talent overseas – Turkey, China and Spain are three areas that have the ears of the NBA stars.
However, a recent decision by FIBA (the Swiss-based international governing body for basketball) enables players to go back to the NBA to fulfill their existing contracts should the lockout be resolved.
This hasn’t been well received from European leagues; the CEO and president of the Euroleague said that European teams need to have in place stable rosters, and that it would be difficult or wrong of a club to sign a player without knowing if they will be playing for them for one month, two months, who knows how long they will play in the world’s second best competition.
The NBA lockout has been a positive for the Euroleague and other leagues such as China it has become a showcase opportunity.
Several weeks ago, NBPA executive director Billy Hunter stated publicly that the NBA season is more than likely to be cancelled in whole; David Stern believes the situations will be worked out, and players are undecided and searching the market or preparing for when games commence.
For Australian basketball, the FIBA decision means that the chance of signing Patrick Mills is all but gone. The acquisition and return home for Mills would’ve been a great promotional means for the NBL and the augmentation of basketball in Australia.
The current NBA lockout has much more to come. Stay tuned.
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