NBA labor talks may be in stars

NEW YORK - The NFL’s party week was briefly interrupted by a sobering message about the league’s labor situation.

Now it could be the NBA’s turn.

The league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement also will expire in 2011, and management and the players’ association will meet next weekend during the All-Star events in Dallas as they try to negotiate a new one.

Indications are it won’t be easy. CBSSports.com, citing a person familiar with the document, reported that the first proposal the league sent the union last week called for a reduction of the players’ share of the basketball-related income from 57 percent to below 50, as well as reductions in the length and amount of maximum value contracts, and elements of a “hard” salary cap to replace the current system that forces teams exceeding the cap to pay a luxury tax.

Neither the league nor the union have commented about the proposal, but it surely will be a topic when commissioner David Stern, and perhaps players’ association executive director Billy Hunter, meets with the media Saturday.

Hunter sometimes appears with Stern at the commissioner’s annual state of the league press conference on All-Star Saturday night, but it’s not clear if he will do so this year - especially if Friday’s bargaining session goes poorly.

The sides already held some informal meetings last summer and exchanged some financial documents, getting an early start on what could be difficult negotiations. The economic downturn hit many team owners hard and they are seeking significant changes in a system that the players argue has largely worked.