NBA Lockout: Will NBA Fans See Any Games in 2011?

After a pivotal point in labor negotiations between NBA owners and players on Monday, what we have learned is that six hours of talking doesn't mean anything.

Despite the NBA and NBPA negotiating for an extensive period of time on Monday, the verdict is that the first two weeks of the NBA season have been cancelled and there is a burning bridge separating the two sides at the moment.

Per Ken Berger of CBS, NBA commissioner David Stern said that the players were pushing for a 53-47 split of basketball-related income, while the owners have been pushing for a 50-50 split. As apparent as it was from the start, the players and owners are miles apart on this issue.

Well, they appear miles apart in general.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweeted that Stern said "we have a gulf that separates us" and "owners' offers will get worse for players to account for NBA losses during missed games."

Wojnarowski also reported that Stern said the players and owners can't get over the system hurdles, such as the owners proposing to significantly tax top-spending teams and narrowing players' "Larry Bird" exception rights ("Bird rights" allow players who have stayed on one team for at least three years to be re-signed even if it violates a team's salary-cap limit).

Berger also noted that Stern said it was "logical" to assume cancellations would come in two-week increments from now on.

You know, to torture us more.

The long and the short of the matter now is that it's looking very likely, as it has for a while, that the entire NBA season could be forfeited. The owners and players were able to come near to an agreement on the reduction of the mid-level exception on Monday, but if they can't figure out everything else that's pointless.

The owners and players are nowhere near coming to an agreement on the collective bargaining agreement now and the 2011-12 NBA season is a mirage at this point.