Since the summer, we have all watched numerous NBA players sign with foreign teams in countries such as Turkey, Italy, and China. The possibility of not having a season quickly sent the players east as they needed some kind of money flow to support their families. Well, the ones that did indeed go are smart as Monday, NBA commissioner David Stern confirmed that the preseason and the first two weeks of the season are cancelled. After roughly 13 hours of negotiations, the NBA and the NBPA could not come to an agreement, and in fact they are not even close. Players representative Derek Fisher, point guard on the Lakers, told reporters that the players union and owners are millions of dollars off. Topics like hard cap vs. soft cap are causing tension in the meetings and this is resulting in no solutions. The presumption among NBA analysis's is that there will indeed be no season as the players and owners are just to far apart to get a deal done in time.
In 2004-2005, the entire NHL season was cancelled due to a lockout. Finally, the players gave in to the owners deal because the players needed to make money again. The deal in place right now in the NHL is recognized as one of the worst in sports because the owners were able to rip off the players. A lot of those NHL owners are owners of NBA teams today, so they know if they are patient, the NBA players will have to give in sooner or later. The NBA situation is a bit different from the NHL predicament because a lot of the NBA players have indeed found jobs overseas. Either way, don't expect basketball anytime soon.
Star point guard Deron William of the New Jersey Nets, make a multi million dollar deal to play in Turkey. He is one of many NBA stars that have signed contracts to play in Europe or Asia until the negotiations are settled.
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