Player representatives from every NBA team are meeting this morning in New York to discuss whether to accept the latest proposal from the NBA or to reject it and continue the lockout.
It has since been reported that Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has joined the meetings in New York on Monday morning. He was reportedly joined by New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony.
The new deal needs to be accepted by the player representatives before being presented to the entire league. If approved by players and then ratified by owners, the lockout would end, and a 72-game season would start Dec. 15.
NBA commissioner David Stern has urged players to take the deal, claiming that if this proposal is rejected the deals will only get worse. Many of the hard-line owners are already unhappy with this current offer, and are reportedly hoping the players reject it so they can offer even more cutbacks.
The owners have withdrawn their demands for a hard salary cap, salary rollbacks and non-guaranteed contracts during the course of the negotiations. But many players still fear some of the restrictions on teams over the luxury tax would essentially function as a hard cap, which they have strongly opposed.
