The Retort

NBA Lockout Threatens 2011-12 Season

October 7th, 2011 by Cory Lovec Of The Retort Staff

Most sports fans would think one professional sports lockout is enough for at least a year. Well, apparently one isn’t enough this time. With the NFL lockout still in full swing, the NBA decided to have its own lockout as well. June 30, 2011, marked the official date that the NBA collective bargaining agreement ended and when the league decided to lock out its players.

There is a difference between the NFL lockout and the NBA lockout - the NFL lockout is now over (it ended July 25) and the season is well underway, and football is popular as ever. The first preseason game of the year was the only one missed because of the NFL lockout. On the other hand, the NBA lockout has already caused a loss of many preseason games and threatens to cause a loss of games in the regular season as well. NBA commissioner David Stern has stated that if the two sides don’t make significant progress very soon it could lead to a cancellation of the entire season.

The NBA isn’t new to lockouts. In fact, a NBA lockout during the 1998-99 season shortened the schedule to just 50 games - but this was the first time that any NBA games were cancelled because of work stoppage. This is unlike other sport lockouts, such as those of the NHL and MLB in 1994-1995. That season, the NHL lockout caused a loss of 36 games and the MLB lockout caused a cancellation of the playoffs that season, including the World Series. It can be argued that none of these three leagues have fully recovered since, losing many viewers and allowing the NFL to become by far the most popular sport in America.

So what will NBA stars do if there is no NBA season? Well, they will not be getting paid by the league, because if there is no collective bargaining agreement or season there is no paycheck. Some stars, like ex-Utah Jazz and current New Jersey Net point guard Deron Williams are playing overseas in Europe. Word has broken that Kobe Bryant may take a deal of $2.5 million to play 10 games over 40 days for Virtus Bologna, an Italian basketball club; Bryant’s father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, played professionally in Italy and Kobe spent much of his childhood there. When asked whether or not he would like to play in Italy, Bryant said “It’s very possible - it would be a dream for me.”

Many wonder why the NBA, which had one of its most popular and lucrative seasons ever in 2010-11, would want to risk losing the momentum that it has collected over the past few seasons. But it doesn’t seem as though the players or owners truly understand what losing games can cause (just ask the MLB players and owners). Kevin Durant, All-Star guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, stated of the possibility of work stoppage: "No matter how long the lockout's going to take, we're going to stand up. We're not going to give in." As stubborn as both sides seem to be, that statement isn’t at all consoling to the fans.