Team Pessimism Extends Winning Streak, More Cancellations On The Way

The Friday talks in NYC have ended without agreement on a new labor deal. For the first time this week, the two sides took up the question of how to divide league revenues, and from there the discussions quickly ran aground. Here's what we've been told:

• The players have offered to accept 52.5 percent of BRI. The owners are standing firm at either 47 or 50 percent. (It's a little unclear.) Derek Fisher says the union is "really not quite sure" whether owners are at 47 or 50. Billy Hunter said that David Stern "snookered" him and pulled the 50-50 offer that seemed to be on the table last week.
• "Snookered" is your new lockout meme.
• Several system issues, including the midlevel exception and the luxury tax, remain open. Fish says the union is fighting to preserve the right of taxpaying teams to use cap exceptions. As we talked about this morning, this one is critical for the Lakers.
• The league will soon cancel all games through November 30. At this point, the 82-game season is basically dead.

In theory talks could resume this weekend, but Fish is flying back to Los Angeles tonight. On previous occasions when negotiations broke down, he stayed in New York so he could drop into a meeting at a moment's notice.

We now return you to your previously scheduled despair.