The NBA and the players union met for the first time since the lockout begin today, with reportedly little progress being made.
While it doesn't appear the players union is certain to pursue decertification, the sides are beginning to get fairly combative. According to Ken Berger of CBS, when asked whether the players are bargaining in good faith, Stern replied, "I would say not". Immediately before that he claimed that the meeting left him pessimistic.
On the players side, Derek Fisher said afterwards that "where their proposal lies makes it hard to believe [they have a desire to get a deal done]".
The positive, if you could call it that, is that the players are hoping to meet later this month, preferably on two or three consecutive days.
Clearly, this wasn't an issue that was going to be solved with one three hour bargaining session, particularly this early in the game with no legal or financial pressure on either side. Still, some of the harsh words, particularly those coming from Stern, don't give a lot of faith that this will be resolved in a timely manner. Perhaps those three meetings later in the month, if they come to fruition, will provide some progress, but I wouldn't expect progress until regular season games are in doubt. And, if the 1998 lockout is any indication, it could be much longer than that until real concessions are made.