With economic fears in mind, mayors plead for NBA deal

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A group of mayors is getting involved in the NBA labor dispute .

The leaders of cities with NBA teams have sent a letter to the league and the players union, encouraging both sides to find a way to get a deal done.

The long-running dispute already has prompted the cancellation of the early weeks of the season. Thursday, league Commissioner David Stern said if a deal isn’t done by Tuesday – when the union and owners are next set to meet – games as late as Christmas are likely in jeopardy .

The mayors are worried about what a canceled season might do to their local economies.

And the first name on the letter is Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.

"We want them to get together and figure this thing out because it's not just about them,” Ballard said. “It's about the people in the cities - the people who depend, their livelihoods depend, on them playing those games."

The letter goes out as a message from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Read it here .

Ballard said the mayors are not taking sides in the dispute. They're just trying to make sure the league and the players consider what impact it will have on the teams’ cities if they don't reach a deal soon.