The goal all along had been to get David Stern and Billy Hunter in a room together, not just at the start of a day's negotiations but at the end.

That's where they were Thursday, lending legitimacy and hope to what seemed like some serious positioning on a deal that could come as soon as Friday.

Wait, no snarky "Or not" qualifier? Nope. If only for a night, the content and tone of the key negotiators' comments to reporters after another seven-plus hours of collective bargaining talks deserved to stand on their own. As did the fact that, as Hunter and union president Derek Fisher spoke publicly first at the end of this session, Stern was seated in the back of the room. He was smiling, he was acknowledged a couple of times by Hunter and he even answered a question for the union chief, who had been asked when the difficult moves in this labor dance would get made. (MORE>>>)