After 16 hours, NBA players and owners agree to meet again

NEW YORK (AP) -- NBA players and owners broke after a marathon 16-hour negotiation session and planned to return early Wednesday.

The two sides met beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday and went late into the night. It was more than twice as long as any previous negotiating session since owners locked out players when the old collective bargaining agreement expired June 30.

Both sides left the meeting without commenting at the request of federal mediator George Cohen.

Negotiations were expected to resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Owners were to begin two days of board meetings Wednesday with a labor relations committee meeting but instead will return to continue labor talks.

Commissioner David Stern wanted to bring them a deal during those meetings. After a lengthy first day with Cohen, that's still a possibility.

Tuesday marked the 110th day of the lockout. Stern wiped out the first two weeks of the season - exactly 100 games - last week. The cancellations marked the NBA's first work stoppage since the 1998-99 season was reduced to 50 games.

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