NBA

NBA union says it remains united

Put three people in a room and two of them will talk about the other. Put 30 NBA players in a room and unanimity is impossible.

So though Wizards center JaVale McGee said some NBA players “are ready to fold,” both he and players union president Derek Fisher stressed more players are staying together in their labor fight with the owners, which is scheduled to go before a federal mediator in New York on Tuesday.

With Commissioner David Stern continuing to make the rounds on TV and radio shows to teach and preach the gospel of the league and the owners, about 30 players met with National Basketball Players Association executive director Billy Hunter at a Beverly Hills hotel yesterday for updates on the latest labor proposals and to re-affirm their solidarity. The union has held similar regional meetings in Las Vegas and Chicago. But after McGee left early, he provided the headline fodder.

McGee originally told reporters at the site, “There’s definitely some guys in there saying that they’re ready to fold.”

He later clarified that in no way was folding a consensus feeling.

“The majority of guys are willing to stand strong.” McGee said, backtracking from his “fold” comment on Twitter. Too late.

Meanwhile, Fisher referred to his own “gut” feeling, one day after Stern’s “gut” told him that Christmas Day games could be lost if there is no deal by Tuesday.

“My gut tells me that there’s no way Commissioner Stern and the NBA would damage their business by making us miss a whole season,” Fisher told reporters after yesterday’s session, while labeling Stern’s choice of Tuesday as a gloom and doom day “an arbitrary deadline.”

Fisher also took exception with McGee, claiming, “the person that spent the least amount of time in the room has no ability to make that statement.”

Just as Stern disputed claims Hunter made in a radio interview, Hunter fired back at assertions from the commissioner. He disputed Stern’s contention that offers will get worse for the union if a deal is not reached soon.

“It can only get worse for both sides,” Hunter said. “If somebody is pointing a gun at my head, I’m going to point one back. . . . Teams are going to lose money. The pain is mutual.”

And while the players met in California, Stern continued barnstorming with the electronic media. Last night, he appeared on Versus, speaking with Darren Rovell, Sports Business reporter for CNBC, and reiterated the gravity of the situation while stressing his call for competitive balance through economic structure. Stern already has canceled the first two weeks of the season and earlier this week cautioned Christmas Day games are in jeopardy.

“It’s of grave concern to us. Disappointing our sponsors and disappointing our television partners,” Stern said. “Every game we miss does some damage. We just hope that we can get this settled as fast as possible and bring our fans back.”

On a related front, NBA team executives can scout college practices again. Team executives and scouts, who were allowed to attend games, had been banned from scouting college practices during the lockout to avoid any contact with current NBA players who might be on the campuses. With practices starting today, those execs and scouts petitioned the league to lift the ban. And the league did.

“We found out as of [Thursday] night,” said one team executive who had expressed real concern earlier about the ban because “sometimes, you can find out more about a player at a practice than by watching a game.”

fred.kerber@nypost.com