Andrew Nam
Canyon High School
Grade 12
September 25, 2011
andy311.nam@gmail.com
2011 NBA Lockout
When will this fiasco end? That is the question that is in the minds of millions of hardcore basketball fans all around the United States. When will the NBA lockout end? When will teams be able to prep for the upcoming season? Will there even be a season? The questions are plentiful and the doubts of a season are justified.
The lockout has been going on since July 1, 2011 and progress has been non-existant. Unlike the NFL lockout, the NBA’s lockout seems like much more of an enigma. The season will not officially begin until the NBPA reaches a new deal with NBA owners.
Negotiations began in early 2011. The league claimed that it was losing $300 million a year and as a solution, proposed to reduce 40% of players’ salary which would turn out to be about $800 million. Also they propsed to institute a hard salary cap opposed to a soft cap ($45 million per team opposed to $58 million per team). These negotiations still have not made any progress and as of September 23, 2011, training camp has been cancelled. Billy Hunter and Derek Fisher, the two top dogs of the players’ union, met with NBA commissioner David Stern and Adam Silver last week and both sides stated that no progress was made and Stern commented, “The calendar is not our friend.” It looks as if a cancellation of some of the regular season games is inevitable.
Many players have gotten offers to play overseas in countries such as Turkey or Italy. Some players such as Deron Williams have agreed to play overseas (Williams deciding to play in Turkey). And superstars such as Kobe Bryant have gotten lucrative offers from teams and are seriously contemplating the choice of playing overseas.
When will this madness end? Basketball fans are suffering all around the country and the chance of having a shortened or no season at all is inbearable to many fans. NBA owners and the players’ union need to get their heads together and come up with an agreeable deal.
