Wizards lose five games after labor talks stall The Wizards’ first five games of the year were wiped out after the NBA canceled the first two weeks of the season Monday, when the longest negotiation session since the league locked out its players July 1 failed to produce a new labor deal.
Recommended Stories
Emerging on Monday evening after meeting for more than seven hours in New York City, NBA commissioner David Stern made good on a deadline he imposed last week, telling reporters “we remain very, very far apart on virtually all issues.” The sides also met for five-and-a-half hours Sunday.
The cancellation affects all games through Nov. 14. By the time Stern had finished speaking, the Wizards’ website already had been updated. Removed were the team’s Nov. 2 home opener against New Jersey, a visit from Orlando two days later, a two-game trip to Florida to face Miami on Nov. 6 and the Magic on Nov. 11 and a home game against Chicago on Nov. 13.
“I just want to play the game I love and get back on the court,” Wizards forward Andray Blatche said. “But I stand 100 percent behind the [National Basketball Players Association].”
In its cancellation announcement, the NBA said refunds plus interest are available to season-ticket holders for all preseason and regular-season games that are canceled.
“This is not where we choose to be,” union president Derek Fisher said. “We’re not at a place where a fair deal can be reached with the NBA.”
The two sides expect to remain in contact, but no additional formal talks have been scheduled.
With another work stoppage, the NBA risks alienating a fan base that sent the league’s revenues and TV ratings soaring during the 2010-11 season. And the cost of cancellations would be staggering. Deputy commissioner Adam Silver said the league would lose hundreds of millions of dollars, while union executive director Billy Hunter estimated players’ losses at $350 million for each month they were locked out.
Now ushers, security personnel, parking lot attendants, concession workers, restaurant employees and others all stand to have their hours cut or join the country’s 14 million unemployed. A few teams also have already trimmed their staffs, and more layoffs could be forthcoming.
The success of last season on the court, at the box office and in the headlines convinced many that the sides would never reach this point.
But small-market owners were hardened after watching LeBron James leave Cleveland for Miami, Amare Stoudemire bolt from Phoenix to New York and Carmelo Anthony later use his impending free agency as leverage to secure a trade from Denver to the Knicks. They wanted changes that would allow them to hold on to their superstars and compete for titles with the big-spending teams from Los Angeles, Boston and Dallas who have gobbled up the last four championships.
As the lockout drags on, Stern’s legacy as one of sports’ best commissioners is weakened. He turned 69 last month, and although he hasn’t said when he will retire, he did say this will be his last CBA negotiation after nearly 28 years running the league.
Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press contributed to this story.
