There has been little hope so far that the Minnesota Timberwolves would be able to begin the 2011-12 NBA season on time due to the now 111-day long NBA Lockout, but after a 16-hour session with a mediator on Tuesday, things appear to be progressing to a resolution. David Stern has gone on record as saying that games through Christmas are in jeopardy if a resolution cannot be reached in this session.
"WoW, 16 hours… I PROMISE we are trying!!!" New Orleans Hornets' star Chris Paul(notes) said via Twitter shortly after the meeting ended.
Mediator George Cohen asked both sides to stay mum on the details of any progress made during the meetings.
Already two weeks of the regular season as well as all preseason games have been lost. Each side is asking for 53% of the revenue in a multi-billion dollar package. It would be a concession from the players, who received over 57% of revenue in the last collective bargaining session.
As SB Nation's Tom Ziller points out, something had to happen in this marathon session even though there are scant details:
Officials from the league and players' union talked for 16 hours in what became the longest NBA lockout meeting ever on Tuesday and early Wednesday. Mum was the word coming out of the meeting, as neither side spoke to media on the record.