NBA Cancel Pre-Season as Agreement is Not Reached for New Collective Bargaining Agreement

The NBA announced that player training camps and all pre-season games for the 2011-12 season have been postponed indefinitely because a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached with the National Basketball Players Association increasing the likelihood that there will be a delay to the season.

Training camps were scheduled to open on October 3. In addition, doctor the league canceled all preseason games scheduled from October 9 through October 15.

NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, said: “We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games.We will make further decisions as warranted.”

Since the start of the lockout on July 1 the NBA has cut its workforce by about 11% and postponed a program for rookie players. NBA owners have amassed losses of $300 million for the 2010-11 season and in excess of $1.5 billion over the six-year term of the previous collective bargaining agreement (CBA), are seeking significant reductions in player compensation. The previous CBA saw players receive 57% of league basketball-related income (BRI), equating to $2.176 billion from the total of $3.8 billion for the past season.