Did you miss Tuesday night's NBA openers?

The NBA and the union resumed talks Wednesday, with both sides bickering even before they began negotiations to end the lockout.

One day after what was to have been the start of the season, commissioner David Stern said agents for the highest-paid players had disrupted and slowed the process."There's something going on that doesn't involve us, something internally in the union," Stern said. "As I stand here today, I don't know exactly what it was, but it's clear to me what's coming. Watch the process. You'll see."

Union director Billy Hunter arrived about 10 minutes after Stern and said: "He should blame it on Russ," a reference to deputy commissioner Russ Granik.

The sour moods on both sides were a new twist on day 127 of the work stoppage that has forced the league to cancel games for the first time in its history. At all previous bargaining sessions, the principals were more amicable during their pre-meeting comments.

"I don't have a prediction," Stern said. "We'd like to negotiate a deal. There's $1 billion to $1.1 billion in salaries on the table that we'd like to pay the players, but it's not happening.

"The agents are saying, `If you're not going to pay the players the way we want them, then we'd rather not have them paid.' Ultimately, this is something the union membership is going to have to decide for themselves."

The talks at a Manhattan law office were the first since Monday. Also scheduled to attend were Granik and union president Patrick Ewing.

"If I had to guess, the first game will be Dec. 25, because that's when NBC's money and the big chips are on the table," Utah's Karl Malone said on ESPN. "Stern wants players to miss two or three paychecks to start feeling the message."

On Tuesday, boxes were piled high in front of the locker where Ewing usually suits up. Exercise cycles and empty ball racks were strewn about, mops were standing in the corner and three garbage buckets were stuffed into Terry Cummings' locker.

That was how things looked at Madison Square Garden, where the New York Knicks were supposed to have opened their 1998-99 season against the Boston Celtics.

"Unfortunately, the Knicks' locker room has been turned into a storage room," a tour guide explained. "My best guess is it will stay this way until January."