Another 121 games lost as talks break off

NBA commissioner David Stern called off 121 more games of the 2011-2012 season on Friday as contract talks between club owners and locked-out players broke down, ending all hope of a full schedule. Stern had already wiped out the first 100 games of a season that was to have started next Tuesday. He added all games from November 15-30 after three days of meetings ended in failure with no new bargaining sessions scheduled. Billionaire owners and millionaire players remained deadlocked on how to divide annual revenues of about $4 billion nearly four months after the old deal expired July 1, prompting owners to shut down the league. Day 120 of the lockout began with talk of progress and optimism that a full 82-game season might be possible. It ended with owners assured of television revenue and ticket income losses and players certain of lost paychecks. "In light of the breakdown of talks, there will not be a full NBA season under any circumstances," Stern said. "It's not practical, possible or prudent to have a full season now. "We're going to have to recalculate how bad the damage is." Among games lost Friday were Boston at Miami on November 16, the Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City on November 23, Portland at Dallas on November 28 and Miami at Cleveland -- LeBron James against his former club -- on November 18. Stern says it will take a month between completion of a deal and the opening tip-off of an abbreviated season, so December games will be in jeopardy as early as the middle of next week without a new deal. "Today wasn't the day to try and finish this out," said union president Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers. "We didn't want to rush through this today just to close out a deal that's going to impact our members for the next 10 years." As a result, the NBA is assured of having its first shortened season since a similar spat over money cut the 1998-99 season to 50 games per team -- provided, that is, there is an NBA season at all. Neither side budged in a six-hour meeting after progress had been made on salary cap and luxury tax issues in a 15-hour session Wednesday and a meeting half that length on Thursday. "We made a lot of concessions but unfortunately at this time it's not enough," NBA players union executive director Billy Hunter said, one day after he said he thought the sides were "within striking distance of getting a deal." Owners demand a 50-50 split of basketball-related income but players, who had 57 percent under the old deal, want no less than 52.5 percent. That gap is a $100 million annual divide over a planned 10-year deal. "Derek and I made it clear that we could not sell the 50-50 deal to our membership, not with all the concessions that we've granted," Hunter said. "We're unable to move any further. We've got to have some dollars." Owners claim that only eight of 30 clubs are profitable and the rest lost a combined $450 million last season, forcing cost cuts and a need to reduce player salaries. "We think at 50-50 we would be in a profit situation," Stern said. "Billy Hunter said he was not willing to go a penny below 52. He closed up his book and walked out of the room. And that's where we are." Players say they should not be forced to pay for poor decisions from team owners, pushing for revenue sharing among clubs that the NBA says cannot be accomplished until after a deal is struck with the union. "We're not saying we would make a profit on their backs," said NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver. But players say they are already giving back $1.5 billion over 10 years in salaries compared to the old deal in exchange for salary cap and luxury tax concessions made in recent days. "We continue to make great efforts to meet our owners with a lot of their concerns," Fisher said. "We've worked with them in ways on several issues. We've given them a lot of leeway in a lot of areas they want. "It's still not enough for them to feel this deal can be closed."