The NBA owners and players union have met for 24 totalhours over the past two days with the hope of ending a lockout that began onJuly 1. Have they made any progress?Federal mediator George Cohen isnt saying.
Cohen, who was brought into the negotiations for the firsttime on Tuesday, told reporters on Wednesday that the dialogue between the twosides has been direct and constructive, but he didnt divulge any details asto where the sides are in relationship to a deal.In fact, Cohen has requested that the owners and playersrefrain from talking to the media about whats going on behind closeddoors.Dolich: NBA ... no basketball allowed
What Cohen did say is that the sides will meet again onThursday afternoon, which would mark the third consecutive day oftalks.One thing seems clear: Cohen is making sure that the ownersand players stay in the same room as long as possible to try to get this thingresolved. In past weeks, without Cohen present, the sides never met for morethan seven hours at a time.On Tuesday, the sides met for 16 hours and then reconvenedjust 10 hours later and met for another eight hours.The reason Wednesdays session broke up is because the NBAhad a scheduled board of governors meeting for Wednesday night.
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