NBA displays first signs of impending labor woes

NEW YORK -- A collective bargaining session between a large group of NBA owners and players, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has "failed to materialize," a league spokesman said.

The development could be an ominous sign in labor talks, coming less than a week after commissioner David Stern publicly downgraded his outlook for reaching a new agreement from "optimistic" to "hopeful."

A spokesman for the players' union said the league informed the players over the weekend that Tuesday's previously scheduled session wouldn't take place.

"They told us we won't be able to meet. They said they'd get back to us as to what the next step would be," union spokesman Dan Wasserman said.

Union attorneys met with league officials last Thursday and orally outlined a new proposal to replace the seven-year agreement that is due to expire June 30.

In downgrading his forecast for a speedy and amicable resolution, Stern indicated this would be a critical week in negotiations.

The sides have been meeting in small groups regularly since mid-February, although considerable differences remain on several key issues.

Owners would like to reduce the maximum length of long-term contracts, reduce the size of annual percentage salary increases in long-term contracts and raise the minimum age for playing in the NBA.

Union director Billy Hunter, who couldn't immediately be reached for comment Tuesday, said in an interview last week that the union wouldn't make unilateral concessions.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank had no comment beyond the statement that Tuesday's meeting "failed to materialize."

Stern and Hunter will both be in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday to testify before congressional committees investigating steroid use in professional sports.