NBA plans to send new contract proposal to union; hopes for meeting

Associated Press

NEW YORK

NBA commissioner David Stern said Friday the league plans to submit to the players’ union a revised proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement within the next couple of weeks.

Stern also said Sacramento Kings owners Gavin and Joe Maloof have been granted an extension until May 2 to file paperwork requesting a move to Anaheim.

The league’s labor situation and the Kings’ future were the key items on the owners’ agenda during two days of meetings that wrapped up Friday.

Neither Stern nor deputy commissioner Adam Silver would offer details of what would be in their proposal to replace the current CBA, which expires June 30, though Stern said during a conference call later that it would indicate to the players “some modicum of flexibility in our approach and we’re trying to engage the union in a dialogue.”

They have reason to hurry. Though Silver said there’s plenty of time to reach a deal, he said fear of a lockout is “beginning to have an impact on our business.”

“We are in discussions with sponsors and other partners about relationships for next year, and we can’t assure them that we are going to have games,” he said. “They, as you might imagine, begin to pull back some of their spending on the NBA.”

The league submitted its original proposal in January 2010 and the players quickly rejected it during a meeting at the All-Star weekend in Dallas. The union offered a counterproposal last July, but the owners had no interest in it, and there has been no progress since then.

But the league seems willing to reopen negotiations. Stern said his negotiating committee would look to set up a meeting with the players’ side once the new proposal has been delivered.