The NBA canceled the first two weeks of competition

The commissioner of the NBA David Stern officially announced the cancellation of the first two weeks of competition after the team owners and players fail to reach agreement on the new collective agreement.

The two sides met for seven hours on Monday afternoon in a hotel in New York and, as happened at the previous meeting, other seven hours, failed to find common ground to reach an agreement.

David Stern on the negotiations said: "Both sides are far apart in almost all key issues. Just have a sea that separates us."

"I never thought we could get to the situation in 1998-99, but now no longer possible to play all 82 games of the regular season, "he added.

It is not known when they will meet both parties or as are the negotiations.

The hardest part was the statement that offered the deputy commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, who reminded that there will be no agreement until all 30 teams ensure the same equality of competitiveness and fair compensation for the players.

"Despite the great efforts we have made, it was not possible to reach a new agreement with the union to allow 30 teams compete for the league title, while our players receive fair compensation," said Silver in his statement.

"We do not choose to be in this situation"

For its part, the players union president Derek Fisher, Los Angeles Lakers, he reiterated that they were not those who had come to the situation to cancel games. "We do not choose to be in this situation," Fisher said upon leaving the meeting. "It reached a point where you could give a fair agreement with the NBA."

Given the possibility that a strike has been completed, the NBA runs the risk of losing all the progress that was achieved last season in terms of revenue and television audience.

Moreover, the lack of competition in the first two weeks of the new season will also mean the loss of income for workers whose jobs depend on the competition seven months of NBA basketball.

The teams, which since last July 1 have established a lockout, without allowing any sporting activity within their respective organizations, have already reduced their respective templates and could make more layoffs in the coming days .

Other business and labor sectors that relate to the world of the NBA will suffer from the lack of competition, at a time when the United States more than 14 million unemployed.

The gains made last season by the NBA did think that both sides could reach an agreement at the end without having to cancel matches.

But for owners of NBA teams, the problem is more serious and deep as they feel that all the current financial system does not work after the loss of millions they have had with the old covenant group.