BASKETBALL ACT chief executive Tony Jackson has refused to disclose details about why negotiations with superstar Lauren Jackson to return to the Canberra Capitals this season fell through.
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The Capitals and Basketball ACT will see what they're missing out on when the four-time Olympian spearheads the Australian Opals in the deciding game of the Oceania championship series against New Zealand at the AIS Arena on Sunday.
Lauren Jackson claimed last month Basketball ACT had missed a deadline to amend her lucrative $1 million, five-year contract which would have meant her playing in 2013-14.
Under the original terms of the deal, Jackson wasn't due to play for the Capitals in the upcoming season before returning for 2014-15 and 2015-16.
But after missing all of last season - her first as part of the unique contract - through injury, a proposal to switch the upcoming season for 2015-16 was put to the Basketball ACT board.
Tony Jackson cited commercial confidence for declining to shed light on the negotiations.
''They're confidential discussions that you have with any commercial agreement.
"We're not in the business of disclosing publicly what happens in negotiations.''
Lauren Jackson said Basketball ACT had the contract for 10 days and didn't respond to at least four emails and numerous phone calls.
"That's her choice to disclose what she wants to and her interpretation of what may or may not have happened,'' he said.
"Whether they're true or not true, I don't believe that they're relevant because we don't believe it's appropriate for us to comment. An opportunity came up about a month ago to switch those seasons around, and our intent was to do that. She decided that wasn't going to fit her so we're going to stick with the original agreement.
''Naturally we're disappointed it wasn't able to be done, but that's the business of sport.''
Tony Jackson said he hadn't contemplated stepping down and said the resignation of Basketball ACT president Mark White wasn't related to the Lauren Jackson negotiations.
"We were all disappointed it couldn't be realised, but it's business as usual for [coach Carrie Graf] and the team,'' Tony Jackson said.
The failure is even more bewildering after her 22-point performance for the Opals in Wednesday night's win over the Tall Ferns.
It was Jackson's first game in 10 months and she showed she had not lost any of her touch as one of the premier players in world basketball.
