Who are the REAL VICTIMS of the lockout?

                          Source: http://www.sportige.com/

Two years ago, everyone, from owners, players, analysts, journalists and even the fans knew that after June 30, 2011, there was a very big chance that the National Basketball Association could go through another lockout that can either be similar to what happened in ’98 or even worse than that. True enough, after June 30 passed some days ago, the lockout was officially announced by the league.

Any typical fan might ask these questions: First, what is the big deal with this so- called lockout anyway? And secondly, is it really such a big issue? Well, honestly, if you are a basketball fan then obviously, it is a MAJOR ISSUE. If you are not, then probably, you wouldn’t really care.

The lockout is no different from a labor strike. The owners and the players were not on the same page in terms of their views regarding the current system. As a result, the Collective Bargaining Agreement expired and no new deal was done. I am not a lawyer to explain what the specifics are but I am very sure that the general disagreement between the owners and players were due to two things: One is revenue sharing and the other one is the salary cap system. Let me explain why.

In terms of revenue sharing, the system that the NBA had for the past years allowed the players to have 57% of the revenues while 43% went to the owners. This was one of the main reasons why the players wanted to retain the old system.

On the other hand, the owners wanted to change the old system and replace it with a new one that would allow them to have at least a 50- 50 split according to NBA.com. For the owners, this was one way for them not to lose money and to earn something from their respective teams.

During the negotiations, the players were willing to cut it down to 54- 46, where players would get 54% and owners would get 46%, but obviously, it was not enough to get a deal done..

As for the salary cap system, the NBA, like the other Pro Sports, has a salary cap that each team has to follow. For the past years, the NBA had what they call a soft salary cap. This allowed teams to actually exceed the salary cap but in turn, they had to pay the luxury tax. Of course, the big market teams benefited from this soft cap such as the Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks and even, the Miami Heat because they were willing to pay the luxury tax in order to ensure that their line- ups would be competitive enough to compete for a title. And true enough, for the past three years, the Lakers won twice while the Mavs won their first title last month.

This was the very reason why most of the owners did not want to retain the soft cap of the old Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).  They wanted every team in the league to have a legitimate chance of winning a title. So, they proposed a hard cap, wherein teams were no longer allowed to exceed the salary cap. The maximum salary for every team should only be $62- $63 M a year. The owners felt that this was the only way to maintain a balance among the teams from a competitive standpoint. This would totally change the landscape of the league. According to NBA experts, a team like the Miami Heat might even have to give up one of its big three players just to comply with the hard salary cap.

During the last press conference before the lockout, Commissioner David Stern told reporters, “It worries me that we're not closer and we spent all this time trying to get closer,”…“We have a huge philosophical divide.”

Then, Billy Hunter executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, according to NBA.com, called the difference “mammoth”, and that the gap was just too great and they only were able to take baby steps and not giant steps during the negotiations.

In other words, the way things went, it was next to impossible to actually get a deal done. This was simply because both the owners and the players had totally opposite wants. The owners of 22 of the 30 teams, according to Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, lost a collective amount of $300 million, which just proved that the old system did not bring about enough profits to resolve whatever money problems they had. They are simply trying to say that majority of the owners are actually losing money rather than gaining profit.    

On the other hand, the players did not buy this reason of the owners and they remained firm about their belief that the old system works and one of these players was Chris Paul who said the following according to Yahoo Sports,

“We got to stay together,” Paul said. “It’s one big group. We are the game. We have to stay unified. I think we will be fine. As players we are just going to communicate as best as possible. We just want a fair deal, and we are going to continue to negotiate as much as possible so that we can give our fans the game.”

Yes, the players want to play but will never do so if they do not get the deal that they want. Same as with the owners, who decided to lock them out.

And so, here we are at rock bottom, after one of the most unforgettable seasons of all time which started during that much anticipated free agent bonanza and ended with the magnificent championship run of Dirk and the Mavs. No summer leagues, no free agency period, No pre- season games in Europe, and at worst, no 2011- 2012 season at all. Yes, that is how bad it can get.

During the lockout, players are not allowed to meet with their respective teams. They are not allowed to practice. They are basically, not allowed to do anything related to their typical NBA life. No everything. If they want to work- out, they can do it on their own.

The whole situation is bad for the owners, the players and the league. But the real losers here are not really them. It is true that they will lose some money, but it is not the end of the world for them. Even the reserve players earn big enough money that no typical employee can ever earn. As for the owners, they have tons of money in the first place and that is how they became owners of their respective teams. The REAL LOSERS of this lockout are first, those who work for the different NBA teams and rely on it to earn a living. David Stern said it himself,

"A lockout has a very large impact on a lot of people, most of whom are not associated with either side,”… "They're the other employees of the teams, they're the people who work at the arenas. They're a whole raft of people who make their living from our industry.”  

What will happen to these people? How can they now put food on the table or pay the bills or pay for their other expenses? And to think, all they did was to work hard everyday and yet, here they are as one of the real victims of this lockout.

Then, of course, the second other Real Losers here are the fans. These fans had been nothing but loyal to the league. They supported the league by watching the games on tv, buying tickets to watch the games live on the venue, buying different NBA merchandises, following the NBA on websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo and even NBA.com, talking and writing about the league and many, many more things. And yet, here we are, left with nothing but a feud among owners and players due to their greediness. Was this their so- called way of saying “Thank you” to all of us?

One of my most memorable experiences ever was when I got a chance to ride the Abyss with my family in Ocean Park Hong Kong. And this very ride is my way of describing what happened to the NBA. Like the Abyss, the NBA soared so fast and so high last year, and then, it just dropped big time after June 30, very much like the Abyss ride.

It is so sad to think that it really happened that way for the NBA. But, the basic fact here is that life goes on with or without the NBA.

There are lots of lessons that we can learn from this lockout. One of them is how “Greed” in general, can really ruin a lot of the good things in life. If the players and owners are not as greedy, then most likely, there shouldn’t even be a lockout at all. No victims, no whatsoever. Then, another lesson connected to this is how we should ALWAYS consider the people around us and not just ourselves. Both the players and the owners wanted to make more money, even if they had so much money already. And because of the no give- in rule that they had, they ended up jeopardizing the lives of the many hard- working people who gave everything just to make their league successful.

At the end of the day, it really boils down to one thing and that is selflessness. If people are just more selfless than selfish, then I am a hundred- twenty percent sure that our world is going to be a much better place to live in. A world where people are far more concerned with team success and not with their own individual glory.

Consider the lockout as a result of a lost battle for OUR team due to the selfishness of some of our teammates who decided to play ONLY for themselves.