The NBA owners met with players' union representatives for nearly three and a half hours on Tuesday in the first formal round of collective bargaining talks toward the next NBA labor agreement.

The current deal will run for two more seasons, and the owners must notify the players on Dec. 15, 2010, whether they intend to extend the deal for an additional season.

The owners are clear in their intention to opt out of the current deal.

"We knew that coming into today, and that's why we agreed to meet today -- to get this process started. We don't plan on waiting until 2011 to have the talks we need to have to keep this relationship a strong one," players union president Derek Fisher said.

Via ESPN

General Basketball

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