Obama 'heartbroken' NBA season will be delayed

President Obama said Tuesday that he's “a little heartbroken that the NBA season is getting delayed" at a fundraiser in Orlando with Magic star Dwight Howard.

NBA commissioner David Stern announced Monday that at least the first two weeks of the basketball season would be cancelled after players and owners were unable to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement. Obama said he had discussed the situation backstage with Howard, and hopes to see players back on the court "soon."

The president is an unabashed basketball fan, often playing pickup games with staff and friends. The president attended an NBA game between the Washington Wizards and his hometown Chicago Bulls. Last August, Obama invited a dream team of NBA greats to play basketball with him on his birthday.

But the NBA season looks to be in serious danger, as owners and players find themselves facing a wide gulf on a revenue sharing proposal. This will be the first work stoppage for the league since the 1998; among the games cancelled already canceled next season will be Wizards home games against the Bulls and Magic.

"We remain very, very far apart on virtually all issues,” Stern told reporters Monday in New York. “We just have a gulf that separates us."

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