The NBA Player's Union and Commissioner David Stern have yet to reach an agreement, but there is hope. Both sides met until 2am this morning, and they are already in a second session of mediation today, meaning the possibility of the Detroit Pistons playing basketball before Christmas could happen. Stern has gone on record as saying that games through Christmas are in jeopardy if a resolution cannot be reached in this session.
"WoW, 16 hours… I PROMISE we are trying!!!" New Orleans Hornets' star Chris Paul(notes) said via Twitter shortly after the meeting ended.
Mediator George Cohen asked both sides to stay mum on the details of any progress made during the meetings.
Already two weeks of the regular season as well as all preseason games have been lost. Each side is asking for 53% of the revenue in a multi-billion dollar package. It would be a concession from the players, who received over 57% of revenue in the last collective bargaining session.
Today marks the 111th day of the lockout. As SB Nation's Tom Ziller points out, something had to happen in this marathon session even though there are scant details:
Officials from the league and players' union talked for 16 hours in what became the longest NBA lockout meeting ever on Tuesday and early Wednesday. Mum was the word coming out of the meeting, as neither side spoke to media on the record.
Meanwhile, former Detroit Pistons great Dennis Rodman has gone on record as saying the players should give in and play already:
"I just think that ... the players should bow down...In 1999 we (were locked out) and we missed half the season. The owners bowed down then. They gave the players everything. I think the players should do the same thing for the owners because today most of these teams are losing money.