NBA Labor Dispute

    I have been following the NBA labor dispute.  On June 30th 2011 the NBA locked out its players.  This lockout, different from the recent NFL lockout, will be much more difficult to resolve.  The key points that are up for debate are team salary caps, team spending and player max-salaries.  Unlike the NFL dispute, the NBA owners have much more leverage than the players.  According to Forbes Magazine, more than half of the NBA teams lost money last year.  This means that most of the NBA teams are in no hurry to start this years season and end the lockout.

“The owners insist that the economic model is broken and players will need to give back hundreds of millions in salary to keep the league afloat (and avoid a lockout). And since no one is getting to look at the books, these estimated valuations are all that anyone has to go on.”
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/forbes-17-of-30-nba-teams-lost-money-last-year-2011-1#ixzz1Xy57P8Ca

Yesterday, tuesday, September 13, there was a scheduled meeting between the owners and the players union.  According to many players and owners there was no progress made in the meeting.

"Well, we did not have a great day, I think it's fair to say that," Commissioner David Stern said. "On the other hand, we did say that it is our collective task to decide what we want on the one hand on each side, and two, what each side needs if we choose to work ourselves in such a way as to have the season start on time. That's still our goal." http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/6965103/nba-players-union-impasse-time-start-season-now-doubt

While commissioner Stern remains optimistic about opening the season on time, the future does not look promising.  The first scheduled NBA events are right around the corner.  Training camp is scheduled to open October 3rd and the season opener is scheduled for November 1st.
    Considering the recent lack of progress many NBA players are deciding to temporarily play professionally in Europe.  Over fifty NBA players have already signed contracts over seas and many more are considering following if the lockout continues.  The most notable of the group is New Jersey Nets All Star point guard Deron Williams, who signed with the Turkish Besiktas early this summer for 5 million dollars.  With Williams departure, it is fairly certain that many high profile players will follow.  As of today, the 2011-12 NBA season in serious jeopardy, and the negotiations are not looking promising.