Sports

Hope for NBA deal after 15-hour talks

A 15-hour negotiation that ended at 3 a.m. this morning led both sides of the NBA labor dispute to smile, talk of significant progress, and acknowledge the possibility of reaching a deal by Sunday or Monday.

They will reconvene at 2 p.m. today to try to get closer to a deal, with commissioner David Stern and union director Billy Hunter even suggesting the scant hope of salvaging an 82-game season. The season opener, if a deal is reached Sunday, probably wouldn’t be until Dec. 1.

The second-longest negotiation during this labor war had its best day, and Stern and Hunter seemed either happy or just punch drunk when they met the media at separate press conferences in the wee hours at the Waldorf Astoria.

Progress was made just on system issues regarding the salary cap, luxury tax and length of guaranteed contracts. The revenue-split stalemate, both sides said, was not discussed.

But the rhetoric was a 180-degree turn from Thursday’s federal-mediation breakdown, and Stern didn’t once talk of cancelling more games this week. Stern already cancelled the first two weeks of the season, which was to begin in five days, and was on the verge of cancelling games up to Nov. 29.

“We just finished a solid day of negotiations,’’ Stern said in his opening statement. “We did such a good job, we’re going to do it again (today) at 2 p.m. We hope to use (today’s) session to continue building upon the progress we made today.’’

“This has been a very arduous and difficult day, and productive,’’ Stern added. “Tomorrow is going to be just as arduous and difficult, if not more so. We hope that it can be as productive.’’

Union president Derek Fisher, last seen calling the ownership committee “liars,” expressed cautious optimism.

“I can’t say major progress was made. But progress was made on key issues in the system, enough for us to come back tomorrow. We’re going to go as long and as hard as we possibly can to get a deal done,’’ Fisher said. “But we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves.’’

This was Stern’s first public appearance in a week; he missed Thursday’s breakdown with the flu.

“Leave these guys alone for a little bit of time and all hell breaks loose,’’ Stern said of his absence.

Deputy commissioner Adam Silver also tried to temper the giddiness that surfaced during much of the day. Silver said all the system issues haven’t been resolved and noted that the revenue split was put on the backburner.

“No question today was a better today than last Thursday,’’ Silver said. “It’s too early still in negotiations to express confidence we can make a deal. There was no question we made progress on significant issues. But there are still significant issues left.’’

Asked about the potential of still squeezing in 82 games, Stern said it might be tough. But instead of entertaining questions about cancelling games, he was answering questions in earnest about adding games, a decided shift in tone.

“We’d like to miss as few games as possible,’’ Stern said. “It’s sad we missed two weeks. We’re trying to apply a tourniquet and go forward.’’

Neither Stern nor Hunter disclosed the exact progress made on the system issues, but sources said the sticking-point luxury tax issue hasn’t been fully resolved.

Yesterday, the ownership group was represented by Stern, Silver, owners James Dolan of the Knicks, Peter Holt (San Antonio) and Glen Taylor (Minnesota) and economist Dan Rube. The Players Association group featured Fisher, union executive director Billy Hunter, lead attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy.

Part of the negotiation appears to be saving as many games now to limit the players’ salary loss for November.

Last Thursday, the NBA rejected the union’s revenue proposal and gave a take-it-or-leave-it, 50/50 BRI offer before cutting off negotiations. The NBA said it would not negotiate on system issues unless it accepted the 50/50 split. Hunter said over the weekend the NBA softened its stance and they got back to the table after a five-day break.

Asked why the NBA relented, Hunter said, “A changing of mind, softening of positions and the mounting damage being done to the league. It was a general buildup of pressure persuaded them.‘’

Hunter said last week a livable salary-cap system could persuade the players to move toward a 50/50 split.

Asked if 82 games can be salvaged, Stern said, “I have given them the sense that we’re going to knock ourselves out with them, consistent with what’s in the best interest of our fans and our players in terms of a schedule, to try to schedule as many games as possible. If we can make a deal this week, whether that is 82 games or not, is really dependent on so many things that have to be checked.”