At the stroke of midnight on July 1st, the NBA joined the NFL in a professional sports lockout!
NBA owners and professional basketball players are involved in a standoff regarding a new contract agreement, which means that part or possibly all of the 2011-2012 season could be lost.
Failing to reach agreement in the 11th hour, the NBA locked out all its players last Friday. This means that players no longer have access to sports workout facilities and team provided support or trainers. All images and names of players were removed from every official NBA team page, and players are forbidden to have any contact whatsoever with coaches, trainers, scouts, or any front office personnel.
This is not the first time the NBA has experienced a lockout, as the 1998-1999 season did not even begin until February, due to a similar contractual disagreement. This time around, players are trying to protect their salaries, including a fair share in team profits, while owners want to lower the salary cap, make it easier to dump bad contracts and harder for franchise players to jump ship and leave for a better destination (such as when LeBron James left Clevelend, effectively crippling the franchise).
Some are optimistic that a mutual agreement can be reached between now and the scheduled start of the NBA season in October. But former NBA player and current television analyst Charles Barkley believes the stakes are so high this time around, that the entire season will be lost.
With both the NFL and the NBA in the midst of a lockout, sports fans will find their options in 2011 will be extremely limited.
