Paul supports teammate: New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul says he respects David West’s decision to opt out of the final year of his contract with the basketball team. Paul told The Times-Picayune that West’s decision won’t affect his future with the Hornets. “His decision was he just opted out,” Paul told the newspaper. “It doesn’t mean he’s not coming back to our team.” See the full story here.
Discussions expected to continue through Friday: Joined by a handful of owners and players, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith resumed talks today aimed at ending the lockout with a new collective bargaining agreement. The group met at a Minneapolis law firm with U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan. The participants, including New York Giants owner John Mara and Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, declined comment as they arrived. The meetings were expected to continue Friday. The latest round of negotiations between the two sides—the fifth since they began hopping from city to city for clandestine meetings— kicked off Tuesday with Goodell, Smith, their attorneys and staffs but no owners or players. Smith and Goodell certainly seem closer than when the lockout began March 12. Whether that will translate into a new deal is the big question. Training camps are scheduled to open in three weeks with the Hall of Fame exhibition game on Aug. 7.
Next season in jeopardy: NBA players are locked out, possibly jeopardizing next season. Union chief Billy Hunter said today that owners had locked out the players after failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. Despite a three-hour meeting today, the NBA and its players could not close the enormous gap that remained in their positions. The CBA was due to expire at midnight. All league business is officially on hold, starting with the free agency period that would have opened Friday, and games eventually could be lost, too. The last lockout reduced the 1998-99 season to just a 50-game schedule, the only time the NBA missed games for a work stoppage. The sides remained far apart on just about every major issue, from salaries to the salary cap, revenues to revenue sharing.
