NBA, NBPA Reportedly Extend CBA Termination Deadline to Monday

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

The NBA and NBA Players Association have agreed to extend Friday's deadline to terminate the collective bargaining agreement until Monday, according Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium. 

Both sides are working through the remaining hurdles after the union approved a December 22 start date for the 2020-21 season. 

This is the fifth time the deadline has been pushed back.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski provided context to the situation earlier in the day:

"The NBA has pushed to Friday a deadline that keeps open the option of terminating the collective bargaining agreement, which would essentially blow up the league's financial structure that allows for a 50-50 split of basketball-related income (BRI) under the provisions of the CBA. Because of the pandemic's triggering a force majeure clause in the CBA, both sides have the option of serving notice of 45 days on terminating the agreement, sources said."

While the option to terminate the CBA remains on the table, it doesn't appear as though the NBA or NBPA is eager to use it as they negotiate how to proceed amid the coronavirus pandemic . 

"This CBA was not built for an extended pandemic," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told the NBPA membership in May, according to ESPN. "There's not a mechanism in it that works to properly set the cap when you've got so much uncertainty, when our revenue could be $10 billion or it could be $6 billion. Or less." 

According to Wojnarowski, the NBA told teams that it could lose 40 percent of its revenue if fans are unable to attend games for the upcoming season. The hope is that a December start will help offset some of the loss and leave players available for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the summer.

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The league and players are also negotiating how to handle the salary cap for 2020-21 and the luxury tax. Woj noted that "the sides are working toward spreading out the players' losses over multiple seasons so the players don't take such a substantial financial hit in one year."