Negotiations - NBA Lock Out 2011

Key players in labor negotiations from left to right: Commissioner David Stern, Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, NBPA Executive Director Billy Hunter and President of the NBPA Executive Committee Derek Fisher

CBA Basics: Owners, players and the negotiations

Posted by NBA.com Jul 5 2011 1:20PM - Updated Jul 5 2011 1:44PM

The NBA's collective bargaining agreement -- the blueprint for all business that takes place between the league and its players in this multi-billion dollar industry -- expired on June 30, putting the league into a state in which no player-related business can take place until a new CBA is hammered out.

Both sides have insisted that reaching a new agreement is important to maintain the soaring popularity that the league enjoyed in a very successful 2010-11 season. But the issues are varied and complex, and the sides made little headway in negotiations on a new accord before the CBA expired. The ensuing lockout of players marks only the second work stoppage in league history. The 2008-09 season was marred by a lockout that limited that season to 50 games.

If the players and owners have agreed on anything during these months-long yet often sporadic negotiations, it is that achieving labor peace is not easy. The sides remain apart on several important issues.

Tops among them, as is often the case: money.
The NBA is pushing for a dramatic adjustment to the league's economic system. Stern claims that the NBA has lost more than $1 billion since the current CBA went into effect in 2005-06, including $380 million in 2009-10 and more than $300 million in 2010-11. He has said that 22 of the league's 30 teams lost money last season.

National Basketball Players Association executive director Billy Hunter has disputed both the league's figures and its accounting methods. The players note that the NBA, by its own accounting, is coming off a season of record revenues, which has led to bigger player payrolls and the highest cap on salaries ever.

The league contends that costs -- mainly player salaries -- have skyrocketed out of control, and that the system of doing business outlined in the last CBA is no longer workable.