Silver: Confident NBA, Union Can Avoid Lockout

The following is a condensed and edited interview with Adam Silver, commissioner, National Basketball Association.

[Question:] Will you be back at the collective-bargaining table next year?
[Answer:] Well, we’re back at the table already. While we and the union have agreed that we’re not going to talk publicly about the substance of our discussions, neither side has made it a secret that we’re talking and that the goal is, of course, to avoid any type of work stoppage whatsoever. I feel fairly confident that, based on the tone of these discussions thus far, based on the sense of trust and the amount of respect among the parties, that we should be able to avoid any kind of public labor issue and that the things we need to get done will get done behind closed doors.

Source: Ira Boudway of Bloomberg.com