Spurs’ Jefferson displays his solidarity during CBA talks

As the minutes pass, the more likely an NBA lockout will occur. The players union, the NBA, and owners are still hotly debating a new CBA but no agreement has been reached to prevent a lockout.

Today, San Antonio Spurs Matt Bonner griped the owners was everything as far as extreme financial givebacks in terms of salary and a hard salary cap as he put it.

Another Spurs player in attendance at today’s meeting was Richard Jefferson, among other NBA players, and displayed his solidarity to his fellow players by wearing a “Stand” T-shirt:

The roster included Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics, Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers, Richard Jefferson of the San Antonio Spurs and Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks, who won the championship last week.

Most of them wore the “Stand” T-shirt, which had been designed for the union’s annual meeting. The idea to wear the shirts to the bargaining session came from Pierce and Garnett.

Here is a glimpse as to how far apart both sides are:

The players offered Tuesday to accept a $500 million pay reduction over the next five years, a proposal that Stern dismissed as “modest.” The owners are pushing for cuts, according to union estimates, of more than $8 billion over 10 years.

As each day passes, it’s more than likely come Tuesday, the owners may vote for a lockout. It would be a terrible move by the NBA to see the NBA possibly lose games or even an entire season without thought of the fans.

As for the “Stand” T-shirt, NBA Commissioner David Stern had this to say:

“They were nicely done.”