Impasse no surprise to Gordon

He could see the writing on the wall as far back as several seasons ago when the players' union started warning of the possibility.

He sat in on labor negotiations late last month that Gordon on Tuesday described as a "waste of time."

And the Pistons' shooting guard thinks it's only a matter of time before more games are canceled.

"I think there will be more games missed," Gordon said when reached by phone as he was driving to Chicago. "I expect it might be a year or two. I realized that when I was listening to both sides during the negotiations. I think there will be a lot of games missed and more money is going to go down the drain.

"I'm preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best."

Gordon was in New York for previous negotiating sessions and said until the past few days, he could tell the owners weren't serious about making a deal and were looking forward to the eventual outcome.

"It just seemed scripted, and they were going through the motions," said Gordon, calling it a valuable learning experience. "Sitting there in front of them you could tell they weren't focused on getting a deal. I still don't know the purpose of those meetings."