Welcome to the NBA Lockout
Added on Jul 01, 2011 by Scott in
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2011: the year of the lockout in professional sports. While the NFL slides into month five of its labor dispute, the NBA enters Day 1 today. So, crack open a bottle of your finest bubbly and kick back for what promises to be a lengthy and extremely contentious negotiation — one that could conceivably cost the league a portion of, if not the entire, 2011-2012 season.
The truth of the matter is simple: a lockout was inevitable and necessary. The financial landscape in the NBA has been in disarray for years. The separation between the haves and have-nots has never been wider. A handful of teams need to be folded. Overseas preseason games should be scrapped. But these “solutions” only scratch the surface of what will be required to reach an agreeable settlement that will once again steer the league down a path of profitability.
The fans don’t care about decimal points and dollar signs. Neither do the thousands of workers across the country who earn a living at NBA arenas. All they care about is seeing basketball return in October. However, the odds of that happening appear to be long.
Owners must find a way to improve the revenue sharing system without placing the bulk of the monetary burden on the players. Meanwhile, players have to concede salaries will have to be slashed, especially when stiffs like Yi Jianlian and Hasheem Thabeet earn over $4 million per season.
Unlike the NFL, this lockout carries with it an ominous tone. Football will return, eventually. Training camps might be delayed and frivolous preseason contests could be lost, but all signs point toward a deal being done prior to September. It’s in the best interest of both sides to not miss any regular season games and both sides are fully aware the irreparable damage lost games would inflict on the country’s most popular sport.
Conversely, NBA owners are prepared to eighty-six the season. The players don’t want that to happen, but they are bracing themselves for the worst-case scenario. Stay tuned for weeks and months of heated name-calling and finger-pointing. It’s going to get nasty.
The sad part about this whole mess is that some or all of the renewed interest in the sport could evaporate if things turn ugly. The rise and fall of the Miami Heat. Kevin Durant’s and Derrick Rose’s ascension. The Mavericks magical run. It was a season to remember and one worth watching. After years of lying dormant, the NBA finally emerged from the ginormous shadow left by Michael Jordan’s departure. Until now.
Welcome to the new America. The land of the bankrupt and the home of the unemployed.
