Larry Sanders fractured his orbital bone in a February 2014 game against the Rockets. He chose not to take his doctor-prescribed painkillers, worrying that the pills could be addictive.

Sanders believes he may have been concussed but the Milwaukee Bucks never tested him.

"They kind of let me go to sleep on the training table and sent me home and didn't really think anything was wrong," he said. "And then, the next day, I find out I blew out the orbital in my face. That kind of went into the box of why I had to get out of here, just for your health. I didn't really feel safe with them—the league or Milwaukee—after that point."

Sanders became more tentative putting his body on the line after that.

"I felt that, if something did happen again, I wouldn't be properly taken care of," he said. "I wouldn't be properly tested. Maybe it would be ignored and I would be pressured to go back and all these things, when they haven't even addressed the issue yet."

Sportradar and data analytics firm Second Spectrum are said to be close to a six-year, $250 million contract with the NBA, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

The deal includes a number of rights that includes selling official NBA data to betting houses, data analytics to teams and the development of a streaming product.

Sportradar has taken Mark Cuban, Michael Jordan and Ted Leonsis as investors in the past.

This will make Sportradar the official data partner for three of the four major U.S. sports leagues, including the National Hockey League and National Football League, which is also an investor. Stats Inc. has Major League Baseball’s data contract.

The NBA data contract had been held by Perform Group, which earlier this year announced a deal with FIBA, the governing body for international basketball, that runs through 2033.

Like Michele Roberts with the NBPA, Adam Silver is optimistic about being able to agree upon a new collective bargaining agreement without engaging in a lockout.

"Well, we’re back at the table already," said Silver. "While we and the union have agreed that we’re not going to talk publicly about the substance of our discussions, neither side has made it a secret that we’re talking and that the goal is, of course, to avoid any type of work stoppage whatsoever. I feel fairly confident that, based on the tone of these discussions thus far, based on the sense of trust and the amount of respect among the parties, that we should be able to avoid any kind of public labor issue and that the things we need to get done will get done behind closed doors."

The NBA had a lockout between July and December in 2011 where several games of the regular season were missed.

Michele Roberts is "optimistic" about the NBPA being able to reach agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement with the NBA.

The NBPA and NBA each has the option to conclude their 10-year deal signed in 2011 following the 2016-17 season.

“I can’t [discuss the talks] because I promised [not to],” she said. “I’m not going to be too terribly substantive but I will say I do believe and [Commissioner] Adam [Silver], I hope he agrees, he and I continue to maintain a civil relationship. I actually like him. I think that he’s a pro.

“We’ve had discussions. Our teams have been in discussions for some months now and we have made progress and we’re inclined to continue along those lines. We have meetings this summer and we’re meeting next week and [consistently] after that. We’re trying to get a deal as quickly as we can, ideally before the start of the season.”

Roberts said the discussions have been amicable and she remains hopeful of a deal before the Dec. 15 opt-out date.

“I’ve heard Adam proclaim his optimism,” she said. “I’ve proclaimed mine, so I would like to sooner rather than later be able to have a press conference where we both stand together and announce together that we have a deal and there will be no work stoppage. There will be no lockout.

“Having said that, I gotta be ready for anything. But I am optimistic.”

If a deal is not reached by Dec. 14th, the NBPA is likely to opt out the next day.

Talks between Roberts and Silver have been more cordial than they were under David Stern and Billy Hunter.

“Nothing is certain but I cannot imagine that if we don’t have an agreement on Dec. 14 and the opt-out deadline is Dec. 15, 2016, if that’s where I find myself, I think it’s probably a safe bet that we would opt out,” Roberts said. “I think it’s probably a safe bet that the league would. We want a deal. We don’t want to play the opt-out game. We want a deal.’’