NBA Lockout: Day 1--Will anybody notice? (Stupid is as stupid does)

Billy Hunter of NBAPA and David Stern

Well, it's official, we now have two professional sports leagues that are now in the midst of labor strife.

As you saw yesterday, the NBA decided it was time to make a stand (albeit kind of against themselves), by locking out the players until a collective bargaining agreement can be reached and lower salaries paid.

We wish them luck with that, for they (the owners) are trying to slay the monster that they built themselves.

And while both sides are saying nice things...at least publicly about each other, it is going to be a long, nasty process here, much worse we believe, than anything the NFL has gone through.

Read a brief summary from the Boston Herald RIGHT HERE

The two sides have agreed to resume negotiating in a couple of weeks, but we are pretty sure it won't change anything. The dysfunctional pay-scale and revenue scale the NBA has been operating under since their last strike in 1998 has exacerbated the problem and neither side is willing to admit it.

Yes, there are solutions. And according to many, they aren't complicated. Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times offers up a pretty good one, though we suspect it ain't gonna happen.

Read Heisler's story RIGHT HERE

When push comes to shove, this still boils down to a couple of things and while we aren't necessarily siding with the players, we place a lot of the blame here on the owners.

In their endless pursuit of an NBA title, many owners just got stupid. They started paying guys who in no way shape or form deserved it, way too much money, thinking they could buy a title. You can't.

Yes, we know, there is plenty of money to go around and we don't fault the players for taking what the owners were willing to offer them. But the players and the players association should be realistic that they are going to have to give in a little in order for this to work. We just have a hard time wrapping our hands around the premise of anyone, never mind a basketball player, being paid $25 million plus a year...to do anything.

We know, the players do have options and can go play overseas, but do they really want to do that? Do they really want to go play in say, Greece, where gunshots and riots sometimes break out during games.

Sorry, NBA fan, there is a really good chance you are going to have to survive on a steady diet of College Basketball this year.

Oh, if you want to know how petty this already is, try clicking on any NBA.com or team website, you won't find any mention of any current players...

CBSSports.com gives us David Stern announcing the lockout:

BREAKING: And We Have Lockout...

NBA Players Union chief Billy Hunter says owners are locking out their players eight-and-a-half hours early after failing to reach a new CBA.

In a three-hour meeting Thursday, the sides could not close the gap that remains between the two parties in their positions.

All league business is officially on hold, starting with the free agency period that would have opened Friday. The last lockout reduced the 1998-99 season to just a 50-game schedule, the only time the NBA missed games for a work stoppage.

Union executive committee member Matt Bonner says "we tried to avoid the lockout; unfortunately we couldn't reach a deal."

Earlier this week on "The Dan Patrick Show" Charles Barkley's gut feeling told him that the entire season would be lost...

Remember, this is what we were subjected to the last time this happened...


More when we know more...

Enjoy your NBA Playoffs: Strike/Lockout looming

NBA Union Chief Billy Hunter and Commish David Stern

((ht: latimes))

Because we now know that all Sports fans are learning the finer details of labor law thanks to the NFL, we wanted to remind you about this.

The NBA is headed down the same path the NFL is going.

Yeah, that's right. And it could be uglier than the NFL's problems.

The Los Angeles Times has an interview with the head of the NBA Players Association and if what he says is true, NBA fans, you've got a problem.

According to a memo first reported on by the Sports Business Journal and repeated by many, the NBA is looking to cut their overhead. By that we mean costs...or more specifically, salaries.

The NBA is supposedly pushing for a 22% reduction on their salary cap and get rid of the current "Luxury Tax" for those big spenders who blow past it. A big reason, apparently more than 50% of the leagues teams lost money in 2009-10.

Read the original story from the Times RIGHT HERE

Yes, you should be worried Mr. NBA fan. The players are going to fight such a drastic pay cut. Hard. We aren't shocked at the report NBA teams are losing money, we don't quite honestly see how they could be making money. The salaries paid in that league are quite honestly, obscene. Joe Johnson getting a $125 million contract--really? There are no athletes, and shouldn't be any CEO's making that kind of money. Period.

Obviously, we will keep an eye on this story because it will be developing as the summer progresses. We just wanted to let you know, in case you didn't, that the NFL may not be the only league staring down labor issues.