From Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
Owners and players initially found reason for optimism during Tuesday's meetings. Commissioner David Stern and Peter Holt, the head of the owners' executive committee, felt that the players' proposal to take 52 or 53 percent of basketball-related income, compared to 57 under the previous agreement, was basically fair, sources said.
Owners were seriously considering coming off of their demand for a salary freeze and would allow players' future earnings to be tied into the league's revenue growth, a critical point for players. The owners also were willing to allow the players to maintain their current salaries, without rollbacks, sources said.
But when the owners left the players to meet among themselves for around three hours, Cleveland's Dan Gilbert and Phoenix's Robert Sarver expressed their dissatisfaction with many of the points, sources said. The sources said that the Knicks' James Dolan and the Lakers' Jerry Buss were visibly annoyed by the hardline demands of Gilbert and Sarver.
You know, when people think of the NBA, what comes to mind is the proud tradition of success in Cleveland and Phoenix. The Cavaliers and Suns are model franchises, emulated the world over for their championship pedigrees and brilliant management teams. It only makes sense they should be driving this process. Jerry Buss will just have to sit back, keep quiet and learn what he can from these great businessmen, who clearly have the game's best interests at heart.