There are some things the NBA just can't do without: sneakers,
Charles Barkley on TNT, laser pregame introductions, a half-dozen
timeouts in the last two minutes and most of all, games on Christmas
Day.
For the casual basketball
fan, Christmas Day represents Opening Night, all the more reason why the
owners and players are pushing the limits of the season, and the
patience of the fans, with a labor squabble that took a turn for the
disastrous Thursday night.
Right now, Christmas could deliver a
lump of coal, courtesy of NBA owners and players, at this rate. It's
only the biggest day of the regular season, arguably even more visible
than All-Star Sunday, and a day that suddenly appears shaky at best.
Originally,
David Stern backed off a threat to cancel Christmas if a labor deal
wasn't reached Tuesday. Well, Tuesday came and went ... and went ... and
went into the wee hours Wednesday. Without a cancellation. There was
hope. But then came Thursday, when talks broke off and the two sides
resumed their sniping after a brief cease-fire ordered by federal
mediator George Cohen. And now, nothing is presumed safe. Not the
remaining November calendar, not Christmas, maybe not the season.
Perhaps
Stern was on to something when he first raised the possibility of a
no-basketball Christmas, even though there's still two months between
then and now. Conceivably, the lockout could continue through
Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day games would still be in play. It was far
too early to pull the plug on unquestionably the NBA's most important
day of the regular season, and it made you wonder if Stern was merely
"negotiating" when he said that, or if he was serious and knew something
we didn't.
Apparently, that was the case. He knew the labor
fight, even with the intervention of Cohen, was much more acrimonious
and standoffish than we thought. And the sides are miles apart from a
deal, based on the mud-slinging from the latest stalled talks.
So
where do we stand? The immediate goal of the owners and players should
be to salvage those Christmas Day games, which loom larger than ever. If
the league is trying to get forgiveness from the public, playing on
Christmas would be a great start. The public mood would be holiday-ish,
the games would involve the best teams and most appealing players, and a
good showing would serve as a desperate reminder of what the NBA is all
about.
In these
negotiations, then, that should be the driving force, the one thing both
sides agree on, the checkpoint that should be stressed if at all
possible. The first two weeks are already history, and while deputy
commissioner Adam Silver wouldn't say an 82-game schedule is impossible,
it will be if the two sides maintain their staredown and refuse to
engage in productive discussions next weekend. Because then we're
talking about a lost November.
The big deadline to have a deal in
place is December 1. If that date isn't met, then the league is flirting
with a big loss. The All-Star Game would be in jeopardy, a full season
would be a dream, and Christmas Day suddenly comes into play. Or rather,
out of play.
Just study the habits of the casual basketball fan.
He's not terribly concerned about the lockout right now. He's distracted
by the NFL. As for the NBA, he'll focus first on Opening Night out of
curiosity, then check back on Christmas, and then lock in the day after
the Super Bowl. If the NBA lockout isn't settled by Christmas, the
league runs the risk of the casual fan completely tuning out the NBA all
season. He may never "lock in," excuse the pun.
These are dire
and sensitive times in the negotiation game, not because a deal hasn't
been struck, but because an end doesn't appear to be in sight. Strangely
enough, even with the latest setback, the season can be salvaged. But
it'll take both sides to change strategy and place greater importance on
saving the season first and foremost. Right now, as we see, that's not a
common goal.
Source: NBA
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