BASKETBALL

NBA Negotiations Falter

First weeks of season likely canceled.

Seems basketball fans will have to wait a little longer for the season to start. A last-ditch attempt to resolve the NBA lockout hit a wall today, and commissioner David Stern announced the cancellation of the rest of the preseason. He also said the first two weeks of the regular season would be canceled on Monday. Several major players, including Kobe Bryant, joined the negotiations in Manhattan, but the league and the players' union were unable to agree on how to divide $4 billion in annual revenue. Contrary to the wishes of several agents, the union offered to reduce players’ share of the profits to 52 percent, but the owners’ final offer was a 50-50 split. The union rejected it.