The story of the current NBA Lockout didn’t start three months ago, when the last deal between the NBA player and the Owners/League ended. It traces back to the last lockout, when half the season, or close to it was cancelled, and resulted in a hasty deal drawn in 2005, with the NHL lockout clearly influencing the quick resolution, clearly favoring the players.
Well, since then, despite the league’s growth in popularity, or regaining of popularity due to an emergence of stars like LeBron James and overcoming the post-Jordan slump, it seems this lockout was inevitable. Parity, professional parity, doesn’t translate into money. The small market teams lose it. Maybe not as much as the league let out, but it’s hard competing financially against Los Angeles and Chicago when you’re in Sacramento.
But there’s also the other point – The owners and league have been running this show badly for a few years and now are dumping the consequences on the players. What LeBron James said, and meant, and later retracted, about the league needing fewer teams is probably the best thing for the league. The best thing isn’t what the two sides usually want.
This infographic shows how this Lockout and current state of affairs came to be, going back six years, with key players and events along the way. Could it have been prevented? Probably.
