The National Basketball Referees Association has been bracing for a lockout since talks broke down last week, and lead negotiator Lamell McMorris called it "imminent and unavoidable" after no deal was reached Thursday.

A statement from the NBA yesterday made it clear the lockout had begun.

McMorris said the referees did not view Thursday's negotiations as a final offer, yet were not surprised by the NBA's decision.

Training camp was scheduled to begin tomorrow but will now be pushed back to next week to give the NBA time to line up the replacements and get them to New Jersey. The league did not say how many referees would be at camp. There are 57 active NBA officials.

The league began contacting replacements last Wednesday, the day after the last face-to-face meeting between the sides in New York, which commissioner David Stern abruptly ended because he said the officials reneged on a previously agreed-to proposal.

McMorris said he "absolutely disputes" that, insisting replacement officials - including some who had been fired by the league - were contacted well before the last session.

The contract between the NBA and its officials expired Sept. 1, and the sides had been trying to reach a new two-year deal. They largely agreed on salaries, which would have held steady this year and given the refs a slight increase in the second year, but the union balked at the league's attempt to change retirement benefits.

West arrested. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West, who starred at St. Joseph's was arrested Thursday in Upper Marlboro, Md., after officers pulled him over for speeding on a motorcycle while carrying two loaded handguns and a loaded shotgun.

A Prince George's County police spokeswoman said West was arrested about 10 p.m. on the Capital Beltway after he cut off an officer, who pulled him over.

Police said a handgun was found in his pocket, another in his pant leg, and a shotgun in a guitar case strapped to his back.

Lucas is back. Former Sixers coach and NBA player John Lucas is joining the Los Angeles Clippers as an assistant. The team said Lucas would join Tony Brown, Kim Hughes and Fred Vinson on coach and general manager Mike Dunleavy's staff.