Hunter revealed the scheduled meeting during a charity game Sunday in Miami, sponsored by the Heat's Alonzo Mourning.
``Either of the two sides have to feel some pain [before this can be settled],'' Hunter said then. ``The owners feel they've got to get a lockout until January to achieve what they feel they have to achieve. And we're not going to capitulate.''
Hunter has refused to budge on the owners' attempts to eliminate the Larry Bird exception or to create a hard salary cap. The Bird exception allows a team to exceed the salary cap to re-sign its free agents. A hard cap would eliminate all exceptions.
In its only proposal to date, the union suggested that mandatory contracts for first-round draft choices be expanded from three years to a maximum of five, with larger increases in the fourth and fifth seasons, and a sliding minimum-salary scale for veterans, based on years of experience.
The union also proposed a cap credit system, in which the owners would get a credit the following season if the total dollars spent on player contracts exceeded an agreed-upon number or percentage in one season.
Hunter preached solidarity at a recent meeting of 25 of the league's 29 player reps in Hawaii and at Sunday's game.
The owners want a hard cap and the elimination of the Bird exception because they believe that player salaries are rising more quickly than revenue. To this point, the union has fought any suggestion that the Bird exception even be modified.
The NBA remains the only major pro sports league never to lose a game to work stoppage. There have, however, been two previous lockouts.
