What I Think I Know About the NBA Lockout

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Like the majority of you, I haven’t been following NBA lockout all too closely. It’s not that I don’t care; I might be one of the five Clevelanders devastated if they end up canceling the season. But during Cleveland’s brief summer months, I found that my time was better spent outside playing disc golf, camping or watching my friends band, Falling into Fire, play gigs around the area (and if you’re surprised that I used my very first opportunity at WFNY to pimp my buddy’s band, you clearly don’t know me). Hell, I have hard enough time following labor issues that actually matter, so forgive me for not having the energy to choose sides for this billionaire vs millionaire battle.

However, we’re coming up on some do-or-die moments here. Preseason games have been canceled and if they can’t get a deal done soon, we’ll start missing actual NBA games.

Here’s what I know:

– Sometimes Kevin Garnett shows up to meetings to rally the players. Other times, Dwyane Wade shows up and yells at David Stern.

– There will be no meetings over this weekend, due to Yom Kippur. There might be a meeting on Monday.

– Dan Gilbert is a big poopyhead.

– The Monday meeting will only happen if the player agree before the meeting on the owner’s demands for 50/50 revenue split.

– That meeting is unlikely to happen, as the Union won’t agree to the NBA’s pre-meeting conditions.

– Whenever a deal is reached, there will be some kind of amnesty clause, allowing each team to waive one bloated contract. It makes the most sense for the Cavs to waive Baron Davis (as he plays the same position as No. 1 overall pick Kyrie Irving and has multiple years left on his deal). But honestly, I’d rather watch Baron’s beard chuck up bad threes for two more seasons than sit through another season of Antawn Jamison not rebounding or playing defense.

– However, “Mo Williams and Jamario Moon for Kyrie Irving and 15 games of Baron Davis” would go down as the greatest trade in Cleveland sports history.

– Playing overseas is hard.

– Today is not Monday. Pre-conditions can be removed.

– The NBA’s seemingly fair 50/50 revenue split is more good PR than an actual meaningful concession.

While I’m still holding out that we’ll see meaningful NBA games this year, I beginning to doubt we’ll see 82 of them (whether all 82 games were ‘meaningful’ in the first place is certainly up for debate). For all doom and gloom, in 1999 the NBA season started in freaking February, I have a hard time believing that they’ll cancel the whole thing in early October.

As I see it, the players are in a rough spot, because the more time they miss, the more money they lose. The longer this thing drags on, the worse the owner’s offer will become. Seems to me, the players can either take a crappy deal now or wait three months, lose more more money and end up accepting an even worse deal.

As far as I’m concerned, this can’t happen soon enough. Winter is coming and I don’t want to spend it wondering if this current Browns rebuild is The One or what utility infielder the Tribe will push on us. I want to spend it the way God intended, deluding myself into thinking Omri Casspi is a legit NBA small forward.