The collective bargaining agreement, which was adopted in 2005 and is largely an extension of the 1999 deal, will expire after next season, giving everyone a 16-month window to complete a new deal. It is early still, with more rhetoric and posturing than negotiating.

Still, the signs are troubling, and the sides have rarely seemed so far apart. About half of the league’s 30 franchises are losing money, according to some estimates. Owners want a radical restructuring of the economic system, starting with a hard salary cap to replace the current soft-cap system. The union is in favor of maintaining the status quo.

In his annual All-Star address Saturday, Commissioner David Stern said the league was projecting a loss of $400 million this season, after annual losses of about $200 million in the previous four years. Although he declined to confirm the reported details of the league’s proposal, Stern made it clear that he was indeed seeking a reduction in salaries.

“We’ve shown the players the facts, and our current level of revenue devoted to player salaries is too high,” Stern said. “I can run from that, but I can’t hide from that. And I don’t think the players can, either.”

In concert with labor negotiations, the league is also working on a plan for greater revenue sharing  a measure that the union and many agents have been demanding for some time.

“Our goal for our teams, our players, but particularly our fans, is to come up with a model that says that every N.B.A. team can compete,” Stern said.

The symbolism this weekend was striking.

A year ago, Hunter and Stern sat side by side on a dais during All-Star Weekend and  in deference to the nation’s economic crisis  said they had begun preliminary discussions to avert a labor battle.