After a spectacular 2010-11 season with record ratings, the 115 NBA preseason games are officially cancelled after negotiations ended today in New York without an agreement.
NBAPA president Derek Fisher talks about the lockout and is backed by other prominent players.
Next week is another critical point for the league because as commissioner David Stern said, if no agreement is made by the first of the week, the opening two weeks of the season will also be cancelled.
“We find ourselves where we expected to be: a lockout that may jeopardize a part, or our whole season,” NBA Players Association president Derek Fisher said after the meetings ended.
The players have admitted to reducing their share of basketball income form 57 percent to 53 percent but insist on they are not willing to go any lower. The owners are hoping to get the players down to around 47 percent. According to CNBC’s Sports Business expert Darren Rovell, each percent is worth roughly $40 million annually.
How this affects the Pacers, well, they will miss out on three home games which were already cancelled and their final “home” game was against Memphis and scheduled to be played in Louisville. All preseason games are cancelled and their season opener November 2nd at Detroit is in serious jeopardy.
I don’t expect the whole season to be missed like a lot of fans are throwing out there. I do however, believe regular season games will be missed and the season could open as soon as December. My initial guess all along has been around Christmas.
Right now, neither side has any big reason to give in. It won’t be until another month, when the regular season begins, when the owners and players are feeling the losses in their pockets. Without the loss of money being felt, these negotiations have little meaning.
Until a deal is in place that is beneficial to the owners, it’s better financially for the Pacers not to play games because they are losing money and have lost money all but one season in the last decade.
The time had come for the collective bargaining agreement to be altered and reshaped, for the betterment of the league, owners and players. At this point, only about five owners are legitimately getting by and enjoying a healthy profit — all of which from big markets like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Miami.
This is very tough on a league that made significant strides last season. They better act, or the NFL will become even more dominant.
I hope the entire season gets cancelled. More time for quality programming.
While many don’t like the game, remember it is the second most popular sport behind the NFL. It’s not only important for the teams and their cities, but all the employees that were docked pay or fired because no games.
For the economy’s sake, we need the NBA back.
NBA is nor just about basketball, the community services that benefit from the NBA will also be affected by the cancellation of the season. Let the season begin so that who love the NBA for whatever reason can be at ease.
Both of you are right. Not only do the players/owners need money but think about all the staff on gameday or the community outreach. The players not only make an impact on the floor but also serve as role models (whether they like it or not) to young kids in the community.
More than anything, they provided entertainment that average folks are able to enjoy and tune out whatever problems they are going through.
really, to tell the truth. i just don;t care what they going to do but i just wan’t nba season to start. nothing on television is good anymore. also i think the heat might win this year, but that’s just my opinion.