Unbeknownst to the general public and the media hoard that had been staking out various upscale Manhattan hotels during these negotiations, both sides met yesterday to talk some more. Talks went so well, the league has reportedly decided to cancel two more weeks of the season.
The NBA will be cancelling at least two more weeks of its season, according to a person familiar with the league’s plans.
The source told the Daily News that the announcement will be made by the league on Tuesday.
With talks broken off between the owners and players, and the two sides far apart on major “system” issues, the cancellations are expected to total at least 102 more games, through Nov. 28. No further talks are in the works.
It sounds all doom-and-gloomy but remember, there are reports that the NBA still has an 82 game schedule tucked away that could start December 1. The players have read the reports and have to believe that these cancellations are part of the NBA’s strategy. Keep cutting away at a season and make it look like people are going to lose a lot of money… get the players to cave… then unveil an entirely new 82 game schedule where everyone gets paid.
The problem, though, is the NBA has turned a lot of fans off. They risk seeing a drop in revenue but still having to pay players their current contracts. I may be wrong here, but it seems like the NBA could be heading for some serious losses if they keep dragging this out, alienating the fan, and then trying to suck them back in with a bizarre season with an All-Star break in April and Finals in July.
But that’s way off in the distance. Right now, the sides talked yesterday about something related to the lockout and today the league will chop more games from its original schedule. Meanwhile, bloggers, columnists and beat writers will all be driven that much closer to the brink of insanity (or past it, in my case) while we face a few more weeks of making something out of nothing.
