A months-long drama that began shortly after the Dallas Mavericks were crowned as NBA champions has unofficially cost National Basketball Association fans the season on Monday.
NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter announced the union has rejected the latest offer from NBA owners, which includes a 50/50 split of basketball-related revenue, a less rigid salary cap than the owners wanted and guaranteed contracts. The players were originally demanding a larger share of basketball-related revenue, whereas the owners originally wanted a hard salary cap.
Unlike the previous labor negotiation between the National Football League and its players, this labor battle not only shows no signs of letting up, it also shows no signs that the owners and players are making a good faith effort to get a deal done that doesn’t break the back of the opposing side. During the NFL’s lengthy lockout, there were times when the owners seemingly were trying to break the NFLPA, but there was at least a sense that the owners and players wanted to get a deal done to play football.
If there’s one trouble spot that should bother both multimillionaire player and billionaire owner alike, it’s the fact that several recent stories have shown that many fans of the NBA don’t care if the season gets canceled. Besides the disgust and anger toward both players and owners that frequently fuels such poll numbers, some fans have expressed “a pox on both their houses” approach toward both sides in the NBA negotiations.
Even if fans do return to the NBA in droves once the owners and players finally come to an agreement, both owners and players will likely see a big dent in attendance at games. Even more to the point, many fans who resent both players and owners may not even want to attend games.
Right now, we have no way of knowing whether the players or the owners will win this game of chicken. But we already know who the losers are. It’s the diehard fan who is not among those who don’t give a damn about either side. It’s the fan who will stay up until 2 a.m. to watch the glamor team Los Angeles Lakers battle the consistently awful Los Angeles Clippers because it’s the NBA. It’s the fan who can only attend one NBA game the entire season because tickets, merchandise, stadium concessions and arena parking are just too expensive.