How will you react if the NBA cancels its season?

[Deberg_1990]

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/stor...t-consequences



It doesn’t necessarily matter what NBA commissioner David Stern meant when he said on Wednesday that the upcoming weekend of negotiations between players and the league would determine “whether they can either have a season or not have a season.” Maybe it was a threat, as it sure seemed to be—a grand warning that if they did not accede to a deal, players would miss out on an entire year of salary. But the league is insisting it was not a threat, so maybe it wasn’t.

It’s not really important, though, because we don’t need any pronouncements from Stern to notice that the pages are slipping away on the NBA’s calendar, and with both sides reporting on Wednesday that no progress had been made, at the very least, the beginning of the season is in jeopardy.


The sides will meet again on Friday, and considering it will take about two weeks to iron out the details of a collective bargaining agreement, it’s clear that without significant movement this weekend, the season won’t start on time on Nov. 1. During the 1998 lockout, the league started canceling regular-season games on October 13, and that timeline should hold up this time around.

Canceling the season is still an option, but it’s on the back-burner. There are some who believe that once some games are missed, owners will be willing to axe the whole season, as the NHL did in ’05. But bear in mind, losing an entire season would not just be a hit to the players. It would be a big hit to the owners, too. There is a provision in the league’s television contract that pays the league even in the event of lost games, something that surely increases the owners’ bargaining power in the early stages of a lockout. Owners will still be feeding from their deepest trough, while players miss paychecks.

There is a catch, though—if the entire season is canceled, the owners will have to return the television money, plus interest. The threat of the season being canceled can be arrived at just by looking at the calendar and noting the lack of progress the two sides have made. But there would be no point to a preemptive canceling of the season on Stern’s part.

SI.com’s Sam Amick reports that Stern has laid out a Jan. 7 drop-dead date for cancellation of the season. That was the same deadline in ’99, when a scattered and shortened 50-game season began on February 5—with very negative results. Attendance fell by 2.2 percent, television ratings fell sharply and NBA Finals ratings went from 18.7 to 11.3. That was largely because of the retirement of Michael Jordan and the breakup of the Bulls, but still, it took a long time for the NBA to recover its popularity.

The league last season regained its relevance among fans. Players have a lot at stake in the case of a canceled season. But while owners might be in a better financial position to withstand a long lockout, they saw the NBA finally climb out of its post-Jordan doldrums, and they have a lot at stake here, too.

A canceled season is still a possibility. But we’re a long way from that point.

[tredadda]

MEH. I could honestly care less. I only follow the NBA during the playoffs and even then I could care less who wins as long as it is not the Lakers.

[KevB]

I care. The league is as good as it's been since Jordan in his prime. The number of young stars who play the right way and care about the game really make the near future exciting IMO.

Of course watching millionaires fight with billionaires is ridiculous, so I'm trying to pay as little attention as possible to the lockout.

[Deberg_1990]

First two weeks of season cancelled....

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nbalabor


NEW YORK (AP)—NBA Commissioner David Stern canceled the first two weeks of the season Monday after owners and players were unable to reach a new labor deal and end the lockout.

“The gap is so significant that we just can’t bridge it at this time,” said Stern, who added it’s doubtful a full 82-game season can be played.

“We certainly hoped it would never come to this,” he said of the NBA’s first work stoppage since the 1998-99 season was reduced to 50 games.

Top negotiators for both sides met for more than seven hours Monday, returning to bargaining about 14 hours after ending talks Sunday night. The two sides expect to remain in contact, but no additional formal talks have been scheduled.

“This is not where we choose to be,” union president Derek Fisher(notes) said. “We’re not at a place where a fair deal can be reached with the NBA.”

Stern said both sides are “very far apart on virtually all issues. … We just have a gulf that separates us.”

Opening night was scheduled for Nov. 1, and the cancellation includes all games scheduled to be played through Nov. 14. Affected arenas have been authorized to release dates for those dates.

The money split remains such an obstacle that the sides didn’t even discuss it Sunday and Monday.

With another work stoppage, the NBA risks alienating a fan base that sent the league’s revenues and TV ratings soaring during the 2010-11 season. And the loss of the first two weeks of games will hurt workers with jobs dependent on pro basketball’s six-month-plus season. A few teams have already trimmed their staffs, and more layoffs could be forthcoming.

The success of last season, on the court, at the box office and in the headlines, convinced many that the sides would never reach this point.

But small-market owners were hardened after watching LeBron James(notes) leave Cleveland for Miami, Amare Stoudemire(notes) bolt Phoenix for New York, and Carmelo Anthony(notes) later use his impending free agency as leverage to secure a trade from Denver to the Knicks. They wanted changes that would allow them to hold onto their superstars and compete for titles with the big-spending teams from Los Angeles, Boston and Dallas who have gobbled up the last four championships.

As the lockout drags on, Stern’s legacy as one of sports’ best commissioners is weakened. He turned 69 last month, and although he hasn’t said when he will retire, he did say this will be his last CBA negotiation after nearly 28 years running the league.

He has insisted all along he wouldn’t worry about the damage to his reputation and that his only concern would be getting the deal his owners need.

It’s uncertain when that will be. The sides didn’t agree until Jan. 6 in 1999, just before the deadline for canceling that entire season. The league ended up with a 50-game schedule, often plagued by poor play as teams were forced to fit too many games into too small of a window.

They could keep meeting now and agree to a deal much sooner this time. Or perhaps the divide is still too great and they will decide there’s no reason to rush back to the table.

On Monday, Stern, Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, owners Peter Holt of San Antonio, Glen Taylor of Minnesota and James Dolan of New York, and senior vice president and deputy general counsel Dan Rube met with union executive director Billy Hunter, president Fisher of the Lakers and vice president Maurice Evans(notes) of the Wizards, and attorneys Jeffrey Kessler and Ron Klempner.

Though both sides have said they believe bargaining is the only route to a deal, the process could end up in the courts. Each brought an unfair labor practice charge against the other with the National Labor Relations Board, and the league also filed a federal lawsuit against the union attempting to block it from decertifying.

Union officials thus far have been opposed to decertification, a route the NFL players initially chose during their lockout. But Hunter has said it might eventually be considered.

Players say they have prepared for a shortened season for a couple of years, knowing it could be the inevitable outcome of a difficult negotiation. The owners’ initial proposal in early 2010 for a new CBA, calling for salary reductions and rollbacks, shorter contracts and a hard cap of $45 million, got the process off to a tense start.

When the sides couldn’t agree to a new deal before the old one expired on July 1, Hunter said it had been difficult for the players to overcome the setback the initial proposal caused.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by tredadda

MEH. I could honestly care less. I only follow the NBA during the playoffs and even then I could care less who wins as long as it is not the Lakers.

Well how much do you care? Do you care a whole bunch? Or just some? If you could care less, then right now you must care at least some. Why aren't you more specific about your caring level?

[Easy 6]

I'd make a sammich, something like say, a turkey club.

Mmm

[Bill Brasky]

The only reason I might give a shit is because its nice to have something to watch after the college hoops season is over.

[Boss Hog]

Professional basketball sucks. College basketball is where it's at.

[SenselessChiefsFan]

Well, during the football season, I am fine with it. Just takes time away from football coverage.

But, after that, I will miss it. It is a good offseason sport. I could care less about Hockey or Baseball..... so, I will miss the NBA.

[Boss Hog]

People always say that they could care less and that pisses me off so much. Stop being so ****ing dumb and realize that you should be saying that you COULD NOT care any less.

[Dragonocho]

Originally Posted by Boss Hog

Professional basketball sucks. College basketball is where it's at.

After your English lesson you ended your sentence in a preposition? I couldn't care less but wanted to point that out. Irony was intended there and here.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Boss Hog

Professional basketball sucks. College basketball is where it's at.

Sure - if you like seeing scrappy white guys miss open 13 footers.

There is absolutely no comparison between the pro game and the college game. The pro game is better in literally every sense of the word.

I've made this analogy before, but it works - There are people who would far prefer to watch Top Gun instead of Citizen Kane. And that's fine, there's no accounting for taste. But by no measure is Top Gun a higher quality movie than Citizen Kane.

Say you enjoy college ball better if you'd like, but the pro game is simply a much much higher quality product.

I'll miss it, but I'll get over it. Just gives me more hockey time.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Sure - if you like seeing scrappy white guys miss open 13 footers.

There is absolutely no comparison between the pro game and the college game. The pro game is better in literally every sense of the word.

I've made this analogy before, but it works - There are people who would far prefer to watch Top Gun instead of Citizen Kane. And that's fine, there's no accounting for taste. But by no measure is Top Gun a higher quality movie than Citizen Kane.

Say you enjoy college ball better if you'd like, but the pro game is simply a much much higher quality product.

I'll miss it, but I'll get over it. Just gives me more hockey time.

That's a pretty bad analogy. Citizen Kane is not an enjoyable movie to watch.

[threebag]

It will open the doors to better TV programming. ESPN will be easier to watch also.

[Chief Faithful]

Looks like the college game will get more of my attention.

[Misplaced_Chiefs_Fan]

They still play pro basketball?

*shrug*

Who knew?