Derek Fisher Tries to Unite NBA Players Ahead of Tuesday Meeting

Ahead of Tuesday's crucial talks between the NBA and the National Basketball Players' Association, NBPA President Derek Fisher indicated differences among NBA owners.

Fisher wrote to the players in a letter obtained by ESPN.com that the 30 teams in the NBA do not share same goals in the lockout.

There are a number of team owners that will not lose the season over the hard cap system. We've been clear from Day 1 of this process that we cannot sign off on a deal that attempts in any way to include a hard salary cap for our teams. That has not changed, Fisher said in the letter.

The owners also remain divided over a revenue sharing model. ... It is also my belief that once they have worked out more of their internal issues, the opportunity to negotiate and get a fair deal done is there, Fisher added.

The Lakers' guard also wants all the players to remain united and must drive this game in order to ensure all profits are shared fairly. In the letter Fisher said that we can't sell ourselves short for instant gratification.

It is my belief that if they can get us to be short-sighted and agree to an unfair deal they won't have to share more revenue amongst themselves. They will have gotten what they need from us. We can't allow that to happen, guys. Not under any circumstances, he added in the letter.

The players' union postponed its regional meeting in Miami on Tuesday to schedule a meeting of Fisher and executive director Billy Hunter with NBA Commissioner David Stern, Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver and labor-relations chairman Peter Holt in New York.

Tuesday's meeting may bring some good news for basketball fans desperately waiting for a fruitful negotiation to end the 89-day-long basketball lockout.

After failing to reach a bargaining agreement in meetings previously held in Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas, the NBA postponed training camps for the whole season and wiped 43 preseason games from its calendar last Friday.

If both the parties don't reach any agreement in Tuesday's meeting and the lockout goes beyond the first week of October, the remaining 71 preseason games starting on Oct. 16 and the main season starting from Nov. 1 will also be hit severely by the lockout.

This is the fourth lockout in the history of the NBA. In the biggest lockout in 1998-99, the NBA had to reduce its whole season to just 50 games, and also had to cancel the season's All-Star Game.