The league and the players union had formal meetings Monday for the first time since the lockout began a month ago, and little appears to have been accomplished. Both sides promised to meet several more times this month.
They remain far apart on the critical issue of how to divide the league’s roughly $4 billion in annual revenue. Under the old agreement, the players receive about 57 percent of so-called basketball-related income. The N.B.A. owners say that amount must be cut substantially so the league’s ailing teams can be nursed back to financial health.
The union’s chief player representative, Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers, said that was unacceptable.
Both sides said that no new issues or proposals were introduced at the meetings, which were held at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan and ended after about three hours.
“We met for several hours, and I think it’s fair to say that we’re at the same place as we were 30 days ago,” Commissioner David Stern said afterward. “I don’t feel optimistic about the players’ willingness to engage in a serious way.”
Fisher said that all other issues, including whether there should be a hard salary cap or a flexible one, have taken a back seat to the question of how to divide the league’s revenue, a situation similar what the N.F.L. and its players union faced several months ago.
“That’s going to be the hard work ahead of us in the next couple of weeks: how to get to a place where the split is what we consider to be fair for our players, but also makes an attempt to address the concerns and the issues that our owners are putting out,” Fisher said.
Fisher said there would be more scrutiny on talks between the N.B.A. and the union now that the N.F.L. lockout had ended. But neither side said it felt compelled to act quickly simply because another league has ended its stalemate.
Stern said that the league’s owners “very much want to make a deal,” and “they’ve expressed a willingness to negotiate and compromise.” But clearly, some owners are more anxious than others about missing any games.
The Detroit Pistons and the Golden State Warriors, for instance, have new owners who want to recoup some of their investment. The Orlando Magic have a new arena to pay for as well. The Nets, who are playing their last season in New Jersey, want to promote their impending move to Brooklyn.
The Nets recently sent their season-ticket holders a letter that outlined contingencies in case any games are missed because of the lockout. They include refunds for tickets to any games that are canceled and 1 percent interest.
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