It’s time to hit the negotiation table for the team owners and the NBA players association. Time is up, the previous collective bargaining agreement has expired and we are far from arriving to a concrete negotiation on the terms on which this new collective agreement should be set up. The first delayed item, the first victim, if you will, is the free agent period, which didn’t start this July 1st.
But if things don’t move in the right direction, there is a good chance that we could be facing a shorter season. The last NBA lockout reduced the 1998-99 season to 50 games. Eventually the postseason was played without further cuts. This time around players say they’re prepared to hang in behind the lockout as long as necessary, rather than agree to the financial changes owners are seeking.
The thing here is that the smaller teams want a change. Smaller teams had been tired of losing millions in a system )the previous collective bargain agreement) that has guaranteed players 57 percent of revenues. The owners, particularly those of smaller teams, this time around are asking for an overhaul that would allow small-market teams to compete with the big spenders. If they could compete, they might just make this league even more exciting and competitive and of course, make more money.
Compared to the NFL lockout, the NBA
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