Column: NBA lockout ‘just got real’

Stop me if you have heard this story before. Extremely high-paid professional athletes and rich professional team owners can not come up with a deal that makes everyone happy.

Oh, you have heard it? I’m not surprised.

After an entire NFL offseason filled with negotiations, bargaining and media coverage, some people might have forgotten the NBA was in a lockout, too.

Well, after NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the first two weeks of the NBA season, accounting for 100 games, would be canceled, people started paying attention again.

The NBA is in a lock-out for the first time since 1998. This one looks like it still needs a good amount of time before it will figure itself out.

In case you didn’t know, the players and owners are arguing about, you guessed it, money. A salary cap, proposed revenue splits and the creation of ability for smaller market teams to compete against the Lakers or Celtics are all a part of what keeps players and owners at a standstill.

After Stern’s comments about canceling the first two weeks of the season, he did not seem to add much optimism that talks would turn around anytime soon.

“We are very far apart on virtually all issues,” Stern said. “We just have a gulf that separates us.”

Stuck in that gulf are fans who helped make 2010-11 one of the highest rated seasons of all time with TV viewing and game attendance.

The fans who already had tickets will be refunded with interest for the games that have been canceled, but let’s be real, that’s not what they want. They want to watch basketball. Millionaires arguing about who makes an extra million is what is stopping them from doing that.

When Stern officially began canceling regular season games the players were quick to react.

Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade tweeted that the situation “just got real.”

Yes, Dwayne, it did.

Players may have had some fun playing overseas and putting on a show, but there is still no decision and there are still no games to be played.

Players and owners need to find some way to begin working out their differences. Fans do not respond well to lockouts.

It took years for ticket sales to regenerate after the MLB lockout. After the NHL lockout, games were taken off TV and stands were virtually empty for a few years.

I do understand the NBA has a bigger market than both of those sports, but that doesn’t mean fans will be any quicker to forgive.

Fans aren’t the only ones being affected by the lockout.

The teams lost $83 million on ticket sales by canceling those 100 games and that doesn’t include concession income, souvenirs or parking. Stadium employees, bar owners and local business people will also feel the hit of the cancellation of games, and potentially a season.

There are too many people that will be impacted if this season does not go on. It’s time for players and owners to find some way to meet in the middle or there won’t be fans to meet when this is all over.