NBA owners and players far apart

Associated Press

NEW YORK

NBA owners will lose $1 million on average for every game canceled because of the lockout, and players will lose an estimated $350 million a month. The pain, though, may be more acute for thousands of people with no seat at the bargaining table.

Bars, restaurants and hotels will go quiet. Parking spots will go unfilled. And the workers who help make basketball a big event in 30 cities will wonder how long they can get by without it.

“I’m worried that my money situation is going to change — a lot,” said waitress Zuly Molina, who works at a Hooters at the Bayside complex next to the Miami Heat’s home arena. “It was a lot better last year. We had business before every game, during every game with people who couldn’t get tickets watching in here, then after every game. Now it’s gone, except for when they have a concert.”

Commissioner David Stern indicated that the entire November calendar could be wiped away without a deal by the end of this month, but players and owners had no immediate plans to sit down with each other again.

Players and owners have each made some concessions but remain far apart on several issues.