NBA Commissioner David Stern is playing hard ball at the negotiating table against his league’s players and their NBPA union and the outcome may not be pretty.

Stern’s latest?

The players have until Wednesday to accept the owner’s latest offer or that offer will drop to 47% at that league-imposed deadline.

NBPA president Derek Fisher’s response?

“Right now, we’ve been given the ultimatum, and our answer is that’s not acceptable to us.”

Although the next offer was promised to be much less than the 51% the league says it has offered the players, in reality that’s not how negotiations normally pan out. When CBA talks grow bitter like these and sides get torn apart it’s everybody’s loss and while lockouts drag on, past offers always seem to resurface.

That said, enough of the sticking out the chest attitudes. These sides need to put their egos away if they want to come to common ground.

Will it happen?

With the history of Stern being…well, stern, NBA fans may not see a tipoff in all of 2011 at the least and may be in jeopardy of losing their entire season.

In addition to that, the players have suggested moving forward with a strategy that includes disbanding the union and taking the owners on in court; a standoff that could drag on for several months.

So the owners are placing their so-called final offer on the table with a Wednesday deadline and the players are discussing strategies that include disbanding the union and taking the owners to court, a standoff that could drag on for months.

The goods news for LeBron haters?

The Heat would have to wait yet another year to get a run at the NBA Championship.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

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