Today’s NBA labor discussions weren’t completely without progress, as the two sides inched closer to a 50-50 revenue split, “give or take a point with ranges based on revenue performance,” according to a source cited in a Yahoo! Sports report.

As long expected, the two sides have moved closer to a “50-50 split, give or take a point with ranges based on revenue performance,” one source said.

While the league’s owners and players made progress in Wednesday’s 8½-hour mediation session, one source involved in the talks was hesitant to characterize it as a “breakthrough” moment, saying system issues could again derail talks. The two sides will resume mediation at 2 p.m. ET Thursday following the conclusion of the owners’ board of governors meetings. The owners are meeting to discuss a new revenue-sharing plan, and what type of proposal they present to the players on Thursday will determine whether the labor talks continue to gather momentum. …

Yet, it was always believed the two sides would eventually have to meet in the middle, and sources said there was momentum on Wednesday to get there.

“I think everyone is expecting miracles. It is still going to take some time even with a mediator,” one league executive said. “I don’t think Cohen has solved disputes in two days.”

Is 50-50 a fair deal? That’s for the two sides to decide. But it’s a revenue deal the sides are reportedly approaching, and if they want to agree, you certainly won’t find me standing in the way picketing.

Yet former Celtic Leon Powe made a lot of sense Wednesday night on his Twitter page, even if he did so without using proper grammar. If the players concede to a 50-50 split, that is more or less taking the entire brunt of the league’s losses and pinning it on the players. The league reported a loss of $300 million last season. A drop from 57% of BRI to 50% of BRI equates to the players shouldering $268.8 million of the owner’s losses, or 80.6% of the league’s losses, by my calculation. And that’s assuming the league actually lost as much as it said it did, despite reports of secondary ownership benefits like Cavs owner Dan Gilbert turning his Cavs ownership into two brand new casinos, which cast a shadow of doubt over the NBA’s balance sheets.

“We need a fair deal, we the players got to make up for everything, all of the lost. Which is not fair, if we got to miss the season, then ok,” Powe tweeted.

As usual, there are other blood issues. Adrian Wojnarowski said the biggest hurdle might be luxury tax proposals which the NBA wants to use to further discourage teams from overspending. The owners also want to limit Larry Bird rights and restrict teams over the cap from using the mid-level or bi-annual exceptions. And, they would like to take each player’s first-born child.

In 24 hours, Jack Bauer saves the world, staves off life-threatening disease, escapes from impossible conditions while being held hostage, develops a heroine habit, saves the world again, loses a family member to terrorists, goes rogue, makes enemies on his own side, kicks his heroine habit, further infuriates the new enemies on his own side, redeems himself in the eyes of his new enemies, turning those enemies back into friends, and then saves the world for a third time.

In 24 hours, the NBA owners and players association have reportedly made little progress, jostled back and forth quite a bit, and agreed to meet tomorrow for the third time in three days. Which, come to think of that, WHY HAVE THEY NOT BEEN MEETING EVERY DAY TO BEGIN WITH?

The owners and players have been given a gag order by federal mediator George Cohen, probably so neither side says anything stupid to set back whatever jostling progress has been made. But Cohen spoke today after the eight and a half hour mediation session, telling assembled reporters that “everyone is focused on getting a deal done” — which should have been assumed since, um, THE NBA IS CURRENTLY LOCKED OUT, but you never know when David Stern and Billy Hunter act like blind folks leading deaf folks into war.

After the meetings, Cohen reportedly ordered a drink at the hotel bar. No word yet on whether it was a double, but you try dealing with Stern, Hunter and co. for 24 and a half hours. That shit is tough.

There still wasn’t a negotiating breakthrough today, though sides reportedly made slight progress on the BRI split, one of the major moats standing in the way of an NBA season. Cohen said the meetings were “direct and constructive,” which sounds good, but may or may not have been code for, “For the love of God, can somebody please get Dan Gilbert the f*** out of these discussions before I quit my job as federal mediator?”

At least, the two sides will return to the negotiating table tomorrow. But as Billy Madison once told Veronica Vaughn, “Talky, talky, talky. No more talky.” It’s time for action. It’s time for a deal. It’s time to save the NBA season.

Or else Bill Simmons and a few other people might buy NHL season tickets instead.

Oh, yay. Another new basketball tour in some place I’ve never been, highlighted by stars who should be playing in the NBA rather than messing around in exhibitions, which I can’t even watch on TV.

I’m sick of the NBA lockout, and I’m sick of exhibition games popping up left and right. But Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo are reportedly among more than a dozen stars expected to participate in the biggest NBA lockout exhibition tour ever, and they’ll reportedly get paid between six figures and $1 million for their efforts.

Kevin Garnett is also considering whether to join the tour. Insert your “he’ll just [expletive] the tour up” joke here _____. (ESPN)

In a trip that could resemble Team USA’s takeover of the world stage at the 2008 Beijing Games, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Rajon Rondo, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, Carlos Boozer, Paul Pierce and Kevin Love are among the players expected to participate. Kevin Durant and Kevin Garnett, among a few others, are also contemplating joining the tour.

Atlanta business mogul Calvin Darden has been putting the tour together with the players’ agents for nearly three months. He has already obtained signed contracts from Bryant, Wade, Bosh, Griffin, Rondo and Pierce. Sources say he’s hoping to complete the rest of the agreements, along with insurance requirements, over the next few days.

Even so, sources warned that the tour has not yet been finalized and there’s still a chance it could unravel.

The tour, scheduled to begin Oct. 30 and end Nov. 9, will make stops in Puerto Rico, London, Macau, and Australia. Each game will be staged in an arena that holds at least 15,000 fans. Two games each will be played at sites in London and Australia. …

While Darden’s business record is impressive, his family has endured controversy. His son, Cal Darden Jr., recently spent nearly four years in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of grand larceny and scheme to defraud.

The 36-year-old Darden Jr., once a high-rolling stockbroker on Wall Street, was convicted of defrauding 11 victims of roughly $7 million. In addition to stealing money from securities firms, he was convicted of bilking $300,000 from former NBA star Latrell Sprewell and $950,000 from rap star Nelly.

Though Darden Jr. will have no more than a minor role in the tour, several sources said Darden Sr. has been very open with the involved parties about his son’s legal issues and that they do not foresee them causing a problem. Darden Jr.’s main role has been putting together the charitable component of the tour.

This is exactly what I want Rondo and Pierce doing. Risking their bodies to play six games in faraway countries, games organized by a media mogul whose son, also playing a role in the tour, is a convicted felon known for defrauding 11 victims of roughly $7 million. To be fair, even if he bilks $300,000 from any of the barnstorming stars, Calvin Darden, Jr. is probably not any worse to work for than Donald Sterling.  Plus, who doesn’t want a convicted felon handling the charitable component of the biggest tour in NBA lockout history?

Seriously, this isn’t how this year is supposed to go. I’m supposed to be rooting for the Celtics to somehow beat the Heat, not praying for Rondo and Pierce to stay healthy while playing in Macau. For the love of Bill Sharman, NBA owners and players association, please come to an agreement.

This video would make me more excited for JaJuan Johnson’s pro prospects, if I didn’t know two things:

1) exhibition league basketball turns every defender into Gerald Green

and

2) Jeff Green never reminded anyone of Bruce Bowen, even during his finest moments

But still, a couple positives (which we already knew) can be taken from this video. Firstly, JaJuan Johnson is 6 feet, 11 inches tall and shoots from way above his head. He also has a soft touch from outside. That means his shot is both difficult to block and also (fairly) accurate. Plus, Johnson can move. He isn’t some stiff who will come off the bench, waddle down the court, shoot outside jumpers and otherwise look like a statue. He has a 38-inch vertical, people. That’s the same as Hakim Warrick, in case you need a point of reference.

All of which means I’m reasonably excited for the JaJuan Johnson era. Even if seeing him abuse Jeff Green in a summer league exhibition did nothing but rekindle old feelings of disgust toward Green.

(h/t Red’s Army)

The NBA has been locked out for more than three months, so when reports mentioned that Kevin Garnett ruined the entire labor negotiations, I was (understandably, I think) skeptical.  It was difficult for me to believe that a lone human being who attended no more than one (or maybe two) lockout meetings could single-handedly obliterate a deal splitting $23 billion of revenue. After all, destroying something by showing up late in the process (or season, in this case) is a role usually reserved for Jeff Green.

Color me not surprised, then, at the Boston Herald’s report today that Garnett’s role in the lack of progress on the lockout front is “overblown.”

And, by the way, while Garnett’s anger didn’t help move things closer that day, word from league sources is that his effect on the talks is being overblown.

More likely, the blame tossed on Garnett was another spin in the rhetoric designed to divert attention from the real culprits here — the NBA owners and the leaders of the players association, who have not been able to reach a deal and have already canceled the first two weeks of the regular season.

Garnett’s a powerful human being, and it’s not difficult to envision Garnett giving David Stern a piece of his mind (or several pieces, including a lot of profanity and perhaps some chest-bumping or ball-tapping, if Garnett deemed it necessary or was particularly psychotic at the time). But if one man can really threaten all progress prior negotiations had made, well, maybe there wasn’t much initial progress at all.

The Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association wanted to sign Delonte West this season, according to Marc Stein. But West’s legal problems likely make signing in China impossible.

“Can’t even get that over seas money,” he tweeted in August. “Judge said it’s a no go on leaving the country.”

The Boston Celtics might have dodged a bullet here, as long as West re-signs with the team in free agency. The Chinese Basketball Association does not allow NBA opt-out clauses in its contracts, so West would have had to sign with the Sharks for the entire season.

The Sharks have now turned their attentions to Sebastian Telfair. Insert your Telfair joke of choice here.