BRIEFLY : NBA TALKS RESUME.

Byline: Associated Press 

After sneaking off to Los Angeles for a secret meeting, David Stern and Billy Hunter may huddle again privately this weekend.

The prospects for a quick settlement of the NBA lockout were uncertain Thursday after Stern, the NBA commissioner, and Hunter, the union director, met for several hours Wednesday night at the office of agent Leonard Armato, who represents the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal.

The league said ``no progress was made,'' and it was believed the men spent much of their time covering old ground. Yet sources on both sides of the talks told The Associated Press that a deal could be done quickly if the sides agree to swap major concessions.

The union would have to agree to the establishment of a maximum salary for players with more than six years' of experience, and the league would have to accept the union's proposed minimum salaries and an additional salary cap exception.

The league has said an agreement must be reached by Jan. 7 to avoid the cancellation of the entire 1998-99 season.

``We remain far, far apart on several critical issues,'' league lawyer Jeffrey Mishkin said.

The promoters of last week's basketball game that featured locked-out NBA stars distributed $600,000 to various charities.

Curtis Polk, president of Falk Associates Management Enterprises, said that additional proceeds from Saturday's game will be distributed during the next several weeks. He didn't say how much.

FOOTBALL: Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf denied there was a 21-day window in coach Mike Holmgren's contract allowing him to seek jobs elsewhere as coach and general manager.

``I don't know what that's in reference to,'' he told The Associated Press.

There have been numerous news media reports that a provision added to Holmgren's contract earlier this year would give him 21 days to pursue such a job after the end of the team's season.

BASEBALL: Without mentioning Roger Clemens, the baseball commissioner's office sent teams a memo saying side agreements such as the one between the pitcher and Toronto were unenforceable.

During a news conference Tuesday, Clemens said he had a written agreement with Toronto that gave him both the right to demand a trade and the right to block one. Those clauses are not contained in the copy of Clemens' contract sent to the American League.

In a memo sent to teams last Friday, the commissioner's office told teams it has always insisted all agreements with players must be contained in the uniform player contract, and that the commissioner's office considers any agreements not in the contract to be unenforceable.

The Minnesota Twins are slashing their player payroll next season, saying they can't compete under baseball's economic structure.

The club's payroll will fall to between $10 million and $15 million, down from $27 million at the beginning of the 1998 season, the Twins said.

Trevor Wilson, who pitched for the Giants from 1988-95, returned to San Francisco, agreeing to a one-year contract.

Meanwhile, Giants reliever John Johnstone avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a $692,500, one-year contract, triple his $230,000 salary last season.