The current offer from the owners was deemed unacceptable by the 60 players who attended a regional union meeting on Tuesday.
"We all know we'll have to sacrifice but something has to be done," Kevin Love told ESPN.com Tuesday night. "It has to be sooner than later. We have to get the ball rolling. We can't wait around until October or November and then nothing gets done. The owners will keep stalling and obviously they have more means than us to lock us out.
"I want to play basketball," Love said. "I want us -- the players -- to sign a great deal. I want us to make a compromise with the owners but not sign what they're proposing. We'll play hardball if we have to. I want there to be an NBA season but it's also apparent that we're going to miss games."
Love said Tuesday's meeting on UCLA's campus with NBPA director Billy Hunter and players' association president and Los Angeles Lakers representative Derek Fisher became heated at times when players fully grasped the details of the owners' proposal.
Love said the main issue was the hard cap of $45 million.
"It would be a crazy system and at the end of the day we're the product and the moneymaker and I don't see (the owners) going out there and playing," Love said. "We've got to stick together as one."
The $8 billion the players would be giving up over 10 years was another main point of discussion at the meeting, Love said.