The NBA and the Players Association are expected to meet tonight in a last ditch effort to prevent games from being lost. NBA commissioner David Stern had previously stated that if an agreement was not reached by Monday that the first two weeks of the regular season would be lost.
Stern, along with deputy commissioner Adam Silver, union president Derek Fisher and executive director Billy Hunter will all attend the meeting.
Earlier this week the NBA offered a 50-50 split of basketball related incoming. The players had previously gotten 57% in the previous agreement, and have proposed lowering that to 53%. Neither side has publicly stated they would bend any more. 3% of the basketball related income would represent about $120 million for the 2011-2012 season.
Many high profile players were down in Miami for an exhibition game Saturday night in which they were briefed on the status of the meetings. The players union plans on having a meeting out in Los Angeles Monday.
The last time the NBA missed games due to lockout was during the 1998-1999 season, which was shortened to 50 games after a deal was reached on January 6th. Games begin nearly a month later on February 5th.