NBA Lockout Commences As Owners, Players Are Unable To Reach Agreement

First the NFL, now the NBA, what is a girl to do for sports? I cannot resort to baseball, it takes too long for something to happen. I don't understand lockouts. It is all about the money on both sides. In my opinion, both sides have more money than the could ever spend in this lifetime. So what are the lockouts really about?

When the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday, July 1, the NBA will begin a lockout on its players, marking the second time a North American sports league has shut out its players in 2011. The NFL imposed a lockout on its players in the middle of March and is soon to complete its fourth month.

When the NBA announced this, deputy commissioner Adam Silver said:

"The expiring collective bargaining agreement created a broken system that produced huge financial losses for our teams," said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. "We need a sustainable business model that allows all 30 teams to be able to compete for a championship, fairly compensates our players, and provides teams, if well-managed, with an opportunity to be profitable."

What exactly are the two sides fighting over? Money, generally. Specifically there are several issues. In no particular order, the first issue is over player salaries. The NBA wants to decrease salaries by a total of $750 million each year, the players by $500 million over five years. This is a non-starter for the league.

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