Commissioner making the rounds and leaving threats behind

NBA commissioner David Stern appeared on ESPN and NBA TV, in interviews with Stephen A. Smith and David Aldridge, respectively, about the state of where negotiations stand.

Stern presented a bleak picture, particularly if things do not improve by next week’s meeting with George Cohen, a federal mediator who has done work with MLB and the NFL.

Stern said if a deal is not reached by next Tuesday, cancelling the 2011-12 season is becoming more and more of a real possibility. Whether Stern is bluffing or dead serious is anyone’s guess, but he sure knows how to control the public conversation in a way the union can’t.

Many have questioned the truthfulness of Stern’s statements, such as suggesting the average salary is $5 million when it’s truly $2.33 million, according to NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner.

But we’ll digress. Stern reached his select audience.  Not the media or you, the fans, but for the 450 players who want to come back to basketball. He just used the media as his vessel, moving past Billy Hunter and Derek Fisher. By the way, he took more than his share of shots on Hunter, essentially suggesting Hunter isn’t calling the shots for the union.

Here’s his interview with ESPN’s Smith:

http://youtu.be/6Z5WUnH8wt8

Here’s his interview, a more in-depth sit-down, with NBA TV’s Aldridge:

Part 1:

http://youtu.be/_CI0tox8h8c

Part 2:

http://youtu.be/4C5_i2xXfsY

On splitting revenues:

http://youtu.be/ufPyskangIg