There will be a season. The NBA had its best season in terms of ratings since Michael Jordan, and there is no way (if Stern is smart) they would risk losing games and kill all momentum. I expect it to end when the season is near. Right now, both sides are just playing hardball.
I expect it to end when Stern says, "If we don't reach and agreement by xxJan, the season will be canceled". We will have another 50 game regular season.
i don't think they will miss games. there is too much to lose after the strides the league made this past season
The season is gone. I don't see the two sides meeting up for a long time... The two sides are just not on the same page, heck, I don't even think they're reading the same book.
I would say early to mid October, because they would realize how many they are going to lose if they dont have an agreement.
This question has definitely been in the back of my mind. I think there is a good possibility that the whole season will be lost. If that happens the league will have a hard time rebounding from that. I hope I am wrong.
When the Players and the Owner come to an understanding and willing to be truly honest with each other. Resulting with a balanced agreement benefiting both sides of the game. or About 18 months the players either decide to make the agreement or walk away from the NBA for good to play in other places.Y
You're right, it is just that serious. In the long run, I don't think the players that go and play in other countries are going to be that happy. The money won't be the same. The customs and fans in those other leagues are strange, and hard to get used to. The referees are different. You think NBA refs are bad, you ain't seen nothing yet, or the players haven't.
All the initial reports were that the with half the teams having new ownership since the last lock-out many of this batch would be willing to lose a season to have more predictable profits from owning NBA teams. Even the generally idea, if you assumed the numbers the NBA provided were slightly exaggerated, would suggest that not having a season would actually save some owners money. Two things though will really determine the fate of the NBA for a good while: 1. The most recent 2011-12 revenue results. With the NFL lockout ending, this is not getting as much press as it should. Most of the NBA loss estimates were based on no increase in revenues this past season, as this comes under more scrutiny, the owners will have to give up a number of their proposals. 2. The NFL coming back. While everyone expected the NFL to save the season, it was still in the back of everyone's mind that their may not be a season. Since Feb, general talk about the NFL free agency, draft, and minicamps which often times would share the headlines and often supersede importance over run-of-the-mill NBA regular reason news. A great deal of the jump the common's fan attention to the NBA was due to the NFL lockout combined with the perfect timing of the Lebromination's first year together. As a result, the NBA almost became front page sports news by default more so than it took. These playoffs helped to re-inforce that by a great deal. The general consensus is the NFL's "return" will relegate the NBA to the backburner until AFTER the Superbowl like in past years. However, I think a resolution to the NBA lockout without losing any games could siphon attention away from the NFL season. The main reason is that NFL games will be less crisp and entertaining than the past few years. Your talking about a rushed preseason, teams filling in rookies and FA into new systems, new coaches learning to deal with their players even more on the fly, and fewer practice between games. While that is my opinion on how NBA people should view this current situation, it is more likely that many owners will be guided by the general consensus believing that their is no opportunity to steal attention away from the NFL before the Super Bowl, and use that as an excuse to allow the lockout to extend to at least Jan, a la the 1998 lock out. However, the NBA and the worldwide basketball scene is much different today than in 1998. While players like Kobe & Wade are likely just posturing about going abroad, I think more players will pursue that option than people expect come Nov/Dec. The recession has hurt some European teams, but they are still much better off today than 13 years ago. I could see a lot of role players ending up in China & Europe, and those are the players who would most likely to push the Players Association budge and salvage a shortened season. If they are already playing, there is less reason to give in and less time for them to voice their opinions and support to make it happen. As a result, I honestly feel that if there no resolution by the beginning of the season, it will be lost in its entirety. Once some of the games start to be lost, the owners will see no reason to try to do anything the NFL & CFB would have taken most of sports fans attention; and then come Jan/Feb (Superbowl time), the players most likely to push to save the season would already be playing elsewhere.
NBA players aren't losing ANY checks now. NBA players don't get paid during the offseason (except for a handful of smart players). So right now NBA labor talk is messing up the player's usual vacation time. NBA labor talk is like forcing them to go to summer school, they'd rather be kicking back or out partying in their off time. The first checks they actually lose will be in November. THATS when the action will start to take place, when they actually DON'T get their usual pay. If from November to January they don't work out a deal, and if many players actually are playing comfortably overseas, the season looks unlikely. Optimistically : Around end-December, mid-January. Pessimistically: See you in '12-'13
Think it will start January or February, both sides standing tough but bein smart enough to face the majority of the season.
To answer the OP no games missed but bad basketball being played on opening night. I see the owners having a season with or without the players using "scabs"... then more players will join as time goes on ( needing to be payed ) until the unoin gives or desolves. This would putt a lot of pressure on the players both financialy and in the public's eye. I may be wrong but the unoin can't stop the season from happening. I do not know how strong the union really is.
