NEW YORK CITY: NBA commissioner David Stern says the owners are willing to give the players 51 percent of basketball revenues as part of a new proposal presented during a lengthy round of talks on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

“We want to allow the union enough time to consider our most recent proposal, and we are hopeful that they will accept,” said Stern.

But the players seemed to reject the offer, saying their “good faith” efforts to end the NBA lockout fell on deaf ears during more than eight hours of negotiations that stretched late into the night Saturday.

“Today was another sad day for our fans, for arena workers, our parking lot attendants, our vendors. Very frustrating, sad day,” union president Derek Fisher said.

“We, for sure, unequivocally, made good faith efforts to try to get this deal done tonight. And we’re at a loss for why we could not close it out.”

Stern hinted that if the players don’t accept the deal by Wednesday, the owners could take a harder line in talks and move the revenue split to just 47 percent for the players.

Stern said he wasn’t giving the players a Wednesday ultimatum, just trying to get the talks moving. He said the next step is to put the latest recommendations in writing and present it to the players as early as Sunday.