The union and the NBA quietly have been negotiating on a new contract for more than a year. Little progress has been reported so far, and a few players around the league have publicly predicted that the NBA will lock them out next summer, as they did in 1998, forcing the season to be reduced to 50 games.
Jarron Collins, the Utah Jazz union representative said he believes "the owners' objective is not to have a lockout," and he doesn't believe speculation that the NBA might feel emboldened in their own talks if the NHL wins major salary-control concessions from its players. "I don't think their bargaining impacts ours, just as football doesn't affect us and baseball doesn't affect us," he said. "Both sides want to avoid a lockout, and I believe we'll work hard to get [a new CBA] done."
The NHL locked out its players last month, adamant that no games will be played until a new collective bargaining agreement is worked out. The NBA's deal with its own players' association expires next summer, so "we're paying close attention what they're going through," said Collins. "It's true we're a year away, but we don't want to have something similar happen."