The Collective Bargaining Agreement was signed six years ago by the NBA Players Association and the NBA and expires this June 30th.

And though commissioner David Stern said both sides are talking, there has been no indication that they are close to approving a new deal.

"Forget all the money issues," the Indiana Pacers All-Star forward said. "I feel like we're just now getting all our fan support back from the (1998) lockout, and here we are again worrying about what's going to happen.

"Nobody wants another lockout, but the reality is that until there's a deal, anything is possible. And that's what worries me and every other guy out here."

The silence from both sides frustrates players who lived through the previous lockout.

The 1998-99 season was shortened by 32 games. The lockout, the first work stoppage in league history, lasted 190 days, but seemed like an eternity to some players.

"I was in New York for the meetings," said O'Neal, who was in the early stages of his NBA career as a seldom-used backup forward with the Portland Trail Blazers. "I wanted to be there to see what was going on. That's why I can't understand why we're having a problem now, because the deal we're in right now is what the owners wanted."

The main issue that could hold up a new deal is the owners' desire that players give up six and seven-year guaranteed contracts in favor of three or four-year guarantees. The owners also want to increase the luxury-tax rates for high-spending teams and lower the tax threshold.

Players prefer the current long-term guaranteed contract format. They also want more flexibility to the trade rules and lower tax and escrow thresholds.

Other potential points of contention include age limit restrictions on draftees favored by the owners, and a restructuring of the league-sponsored minor league system.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Eric Snow, who is vice president of the players union, hopes the NBA won't suffer the same fate as its hockey counterpart. But with few encouraging signs, he said the players are prepared for anything, including another work stoppage.

"If the (owners) and the league aren't willing to change from the stand they've already taken, I would expect one," Snow said. "Hey, a lockout is not the players' decision; it's the owners' decision to lock us out. We (the players) are prepared to stand together. They have to realize that we're in this together as we try to make this a better game."

That means the players might soon have to keep tabs on the checkbook.

"It's never too early to prepare for something of that magnitude," Pacers point guard Anthony Johnson said. "A work stoppage had never happened before (1998), so when it did I think it really surprised everybody. I don't care what you do, when you're not getting paid, when the money stops coming in, you feel it."

Johnson said the Pacers have had informal conversations about the financial planning that needs to be done, a dialogue that has taken place in most locker rooms just weeks into the season.

"I think you've got to have the foresight to prepare for whatever," said Pacers forward Austin Croshere, the team's player representative to the union. "You hope for the best and prepare for the worst. You just have that attitude that you have to be responsible for your family in that situation."

Croshere said he was so young when the 1998 lockout occurred he never seriously considered it could happen.

"Now it's a reality," he said. "Guys thought because they had guaranteed contracts that they (owners) were going to have to pay us that money back and obviously that didn't happen. Now everybody understands that a lockout and not getting paid is a real possibility."

The league's stance is far more optimistic about avoiding a lockout. During a preseason teleconference, Stern insisted that negotiations are continuing.

"We're not close to an agreement, but we're not without a commonality of understanding of what we have to do," Stern said during his annual preseason address. "And whether we can or cannot do it remains (key) to the bargaining process. But I think that the union suggested to us that they weren't sure where the sayers of doom were getting their information because they themselves were telling them that they are going to work around the clock to do whatever they can to make sure that we do make a deal."

"I sure hope (it doesn't come to a lockout)," said Doug Collins. "I think the major issues were dealt with the last time. I hope people know what's at stake, because any time you have a lockout it always sets you back. And that would be unfortunate because we've got some great young players in the game today. The competitive balance has been as good as it's been in a long time. Going into this year the NBA is as open as it has ever been."

Still, the clock is ticking. Like Collins, Pacers president Larry Bird is optimistic a lockout will be avoided.

"We have time, but every day that passes, you want to get those sides together to get something done," Bird said. "We've got to keep this thing rolling. The league looks healthy and it's getting better and we don't need anything knocking us backward."