NBA Lockout Talks: David Stern Doesn't Rule Out Season Ending Later

As we count down to arguably the most important meeting in the NBA lockout talks thus far, one potential solution has sort of presented itself. ESPN's Henry Abbott proposed an interesting idea that could allow the NBA to have a full season that starts late: what if the NBA season simply ended later?

Abbott posed the question to David Stern, and he did not rule it out.

"As we said to the players, everything is negotiable," Stern said after the sides met in small groups Monday in New York for about five hours. Yet, Stern added, "we haven't ever discussed this; it would be really great if we could start the season on time."

Stern did say later that it was a difficult option to pursue, citing arena booking and TV scheduling issues. However, another issue is that the qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics begins in early July, and many NBA players would certainly be playing for their countries. That gives the NBA only a couple weeks to add on to the season. The playoffs normally end in mid-June.