NBA lockout talks have broken up again, reports ESPN's Chris Broussard. The scribe reports that owners and players remain a couple percentage points apart on the split of league revenue. The owners have proposed a 50-50 of the NBA's basketball-related income, which amounted to $3.8 billion last season. The players, who received 57 percent in the last deal, has stuck at 52.5 percent.
The distance between the league and union coming into Friday's talks amounted to roughly $100 million per season.
The two sides met for 22 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, and both NBA commissioner David Stern and union director Billy Hunter expressed optimism late Thursday. Numerous reporters also quoted sources who were hopeful a deal could be closed in on Friday and completed within a few days. The two sides only negotiated so-called "system issues" on Wednesday and Thursday, including luxury tax reform, salary cap exceptions and trade rules.
We'll keep you updated as information becomes available.