It’s been 10 short days since the NBA lockout unofficially came to a close, and already things are returning to normal.
Wait, normal? I was under the strong impression that this lockout would tear the league apart, force David Stern to fundamentally change everything he does and bury basketball so far in the American sports landscape that it would never recover.
Instead, I spent an hour yesterday helping the editor-in-chief draft his fantasy team.
Here are four threats that we heard no end of during the lockout, but completely evaporated on a fateful day in late November.
1. The lockout would last all season (and possibly beyond)
This was the most drastic warning of all. The players union was dissolving, the owners weren’t budging and for most of November, reporters and columnists were just counting down the days until the 2011-12 NBA season was canceled for good.
Right up to the day when the players were supposed to receive their first paychecks of the year. According to CNBC, the average player lost over $200,000 when payday came and went on Nov. 15.
I can’t say whether or not that had anything to do with it. The coincidence is hard to believe, however, especially when a whole deal (that both sides were supposedly distant from) was hammered out by the end of the week. The lure of easy money is too strong, and everyone finally woke up.
By the way, opening day is on Christmas. Is that a marketing coup or what?
2. Everything about the NBA would change
Another idea that was constantly repeated (although I think ESPN columnist Bill Simmons can claim ultimate credit) was that the broken NBA system was going to get an overhaul during the negotiations. After all, multiple teams were operating in the red, players were getting overpaid by millions of dollars and the whole system appeared to be spiraling out of control.
The lockout was a way for the NBA to be reborn by fire, and it didn’t happen. While there are a lot of new things in the collective bargaining agreement (an overhaul of the luxury tax system and limitations on sign-and-trade deals), the basic structure of the league is still in place. The two sides elected to tweak what they had instead of start from scratch, which is completely understandable.
We still have 30 teams, and players still get overpaid. They just don’t get overpaid as much.
3. Hockey would usurp basketball in the U.S.
I always felt this was almost a laughable threat from the start. Hockey will never be able to surpass basketball for the simple reason that you can’t play hockey outside in the lower half of the U.S. You can play basketball.
That didn’t stop the hordes of predictions that Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Pavel Datsuyk would take the country by storm and satisfy the needs of starving NBA fans everywhere.
Instead, the general sporting populous watched a little more college football than usual. And that’s kind of it.
4. The NBA would lose a horde of players to Asia and Europe
I’ll admit, when Kobe was flirting with Italy, I thought this was a possibility. He stayed though, and all the other big names stayed with him.
This is the one threat that had some truth to it, however. The Nuggets start the season without the services of J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin and Wilson Chandler, who are all locked into their contracts with the Chinese Basketball Association. I’m willing to bet they’re not very happy with the CBA right about now.
I think the majority of players realized the league would be back and restrained themselves from chasing easy money overseas. And they were right.
My one lockout regret? That I have to look at Craig Sager’s suits again.
Reach the columnist at egrasser@asu.edu
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