NBA owners and players met for another 8 1/2 hours on Wednesday after Tuesday's 16-hour session and will reconvene Thursday afternoon.

They reportedly have made progress toward agreeing how they will split the pie of "basketball-related income," moving closer to a 50-50 split. How the owners proceed with a revenue-sharing plan, however, will impact that split.

Big issues still remain on owners' proposal for a much more restrictive luxury tax that would prevent big-market teams from far exceeding the league's salary cap.

Yahoo!Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported this Wednesday evening: "While the league's owners and players made progress in Wednesday's 8½-hour mediation session, one source involved in the talks was hesitant to characterize it as a "breakthrough" moment, saying system issues could again derail talks. The two sides will resume mediation at 2 p.m. ET following the conclusion of the owners' board of governors meetings. The owners are meeting to discuss a new revenue-sharing plan, and what type of proposal they present to the players on Thursday will determine whether the labor talks continue to gather momentum."

That gag order federal mediator George Cohen imposed on both sides remained on Wednesday, when Cohen met with reporters afterward only to read a statement.

"Everyone is extremely focused on the core issue, the difficult issues that confront them," he told reporters.

The two sides adjourned so the NBA could get on with its Board of Governors meetings scheduled for today and tomorrow.

Meanwhile, ESPN first reported that Kevin Love is on a list of league stars ready to embark on a two-week, six-game, four-continent barnstorming tour.

That tour would take Love, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook and others to Puerto Rico, London, China and Australia for exhibition games the first two weeks of November, those same two weeks that the NBA already has canceled regular-season games.