Electricity was felt running down every NBA fan’s spine during the 2010 NBA off-season. Lebron James and Chris Bosh brought their talents to South Beach and changed the image of the National Basketball Association. Amar’e Stoudmire started his own dynasty, switching from Phoenix to the Big Apple and Carlos Boozer joined Derrick Rose in Chicago, lifting the Bulls to the upper level of the league’s elite. In just a mere three months, big names throughout the league revolutionized the NBA and brought back the excitement that was lacking in years prior.
Fast forward to the summer of 2011. All there was to be found: silence.
On July 1 the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement expired spiraling the owners and players association into a whirlwind of complicated disputes. Until a new agreement is reached, the players are banned from all team facilities and contact with any team representatives.
“I do not think it will have an affect on their play. They will continue to practice and work on their game,” sophomore Blake Birns said.
Right now there is legitimate fear that the NBA season will not be played, which would not only result in billion dollar loses from the owners and players but also the hard working employees that are associated with each organization. The main issue causing a standstill in negotiations is the owners feeling that they are losing money, therefore wanting to cut player benefits like guaranteed contracts, and also limiting the amount of years that are on contracts.
“The players are responsible for the NBA lockout because they ask for way too much money that they shouldn’t expect the owners to pay. It will take the owners giving in to the players demands for there to be an NBA season,” Birns said. “This will take a lot of effort on both the players and owners behalf.”
In order to cope with the lockout, players have taken alternative forms in order to stay in tune with their game. For instance, various NBA stars players are fielding offers from overseas markets such as Turkey, England, Spain, Israel and China. Deron Williams was the first star to take a leap into the international market by signing with the Turkish club, Besiktas. NBA superstars such as Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant have said that if there is no NBA season, they will play in oversea markets such as China.
“Players should have the right to go overseas and play in European and Asian leagues as long as they have an opt out clause for when the NBA season starts. The leagues are competitive and the potential gain outweighs the injury risk,” sophomore Danny Trainor said. “Team management doesn’t have the ability to restrict their players while the lockout is in effect, so they should be able to play and pad their reputation worldwide”.
Player and owner meetings have come to a halt due to the recent unsuccessful meeting that took place on September 13. With no end to the lockout in sight, it is very likely that training camp will be cancelled, which is part of the sequence leading to an entire season cancellation.
As of right now no major meetings are planned, except for isolated discussions between the player’s union and the owners. As of right now, things are not looking bright in the race to end the NBA lockout. Fans can only hope that an agreement will be reached so this season of basketball can be saved.
