NBA Commissioner David Stern acknowledged that negotiations
with the players union for a new CBA are "moving slowly." Stern,
who has expressed hopes to have a deal by the All-Star break: "I
don't know that there are necessarily enough days left between
now and the All-Star game. We've got some meetings scheduled and
we'd love to make some progress. I just don't want to disappoint
anybody. If we don't do it by the All-Star Game [February 12], I
don't want someone to think we haven't achieved anything." NBPA
Exec Dir Charles Grantham: "We've gone nowhere. In many ways,
we're just stepping into the batter's box." Stern on the NHL's
deal: "It sounds like they have a deal that everybody is unhappy
with, which means it's a good deal" (Chris Young, TORONTO STAR,
1/14).
A STERN DENIAL: According to a report in Sunday's N.Y.
DAILY NEWS, Stern will not leave his job "to take a job heading
up the Olympics." Mitch Lawrence notes that Stern is very
committed to taking the NBA global, "so who needs the Olympics,
anyway?" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/15).
