League, Players Talk as Deadline Nears

Negotiations between the WNBA and the players’ association resumed on Thursday and are likely to go down to today’s NBA-imposed deadline for an agreement to be reached.

It was the first formal meeting between the parties since a 90-minute discussion on Monday.

The sides exchanged proposals on Thursday, union spokesman Dan Wasserman told the Associated Press. Last week, NBA Commissioner David Stern set today as the deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement or the season would be canceled. That the sides were negotiating was viewed as a positive development by one source.

Entering the latest bargaining sessions, there had been a wider gap on the issues of free agency and length of contract than on economic issues.