Can Filipino avid fans "live" sans NBA games?

Let’s digress from the domestic turmoil and the natural disasters wrought by the global warming that ravage their victims. Typhoon “Ramon” changed by one degree higher upon landfall in Eastern Visayas, enough geometrical change that spared Central Visayas.

 With the depleted ozone layer that Nature has set as “buffer” or “ceiling” to lessen the extreme heat on Earth from the sun, so does global warming threaten mankind. The Polar Regions’ huge mountains of icebergs are inevitably melting fast and, its cold waters cascading to the Pacific Ocean where its warm water and air interacts with the melted ice. This gives birth to typhoons that hit Eastern Philippines traumatizing Central and Northern Luzon.

 Back to the topic of digression… Multi-millions worldwide including Filipinos, are NBA hoopdom buffs. They are dismayed that this year’s NBA series appears doubtful since NBA team owners are at loggerheads with millionaire pro players. The 114 pre-season games were cancelled, and the two weeks from November 1 opening of the NBA season may also get cancelled.

 The NBA imbroglio is all about money. After many meetings of NBA owners and the “locked out” players’ spokesman – with Commissioner David Stern at the middle – no solution appears possible. The gaps in their positions are so wide it may imperil the entire 2011-2012 season. There are still huge “gulfs” or wide divides between the stands of the parties.

 The first problem is their haggling over sharing of the $3.8 billion dollars of “basketball related income.” The owners insist on a 50-50 sharing; whereas, the players’ union has pared down to 53-47 from the original 57-43 they used to enjoy in their favor. So far, there’s no apparent solution, especially that the owners are not united in their stand as regards their $300 M loss last year since only 8 of 30 teams were making money.

 The second serious bone of contention is on the players “salary cap” that team owners want to rationalize to $45 M each player. Affected are the “superstars”, like, Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki of the Rockets, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade of the Heats, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett of the Celtics, Kevin Durant of Oklahoma, to name some. Of the 360 or so active players, perhaps majority are millionaires or multi-millionaires.

  The third is the shortening of the players’ contracts with their teams. While this could be less contentious, it’s still a touchy matter. There’s a fourth “minor” issue that one can’t recall.

  While Stern and Derek Fisher, president of the players union, and the negotiators have scheduled a last ditch meeting, it’s again liable to end in impasse. The clock is ticking fast – if both parties can’t break the ice of recalcitrance – that the 81-game sked for all clubs to play in the regular season would be a repeat of the 1998-1999 shortened 50 games.

  With the next season uncertain, many NBA players, like, Byrant, JR Smith, William Chandler, and Chandler Parsons, are courted by European and Chinese clubs to play for them, offering luxurious pays with “opt out” contracts. However, the NBA warns that even with “opt out” contracts they can’t play in the 2011-2012 series should there be renewed collective bargaining agreement to signal the regular season is “go”.

 In the current sports annals worldwide, the NBA basketball tourney is an institution. It would be a pity if the NBA should end kaput, all for the money, and less for the sports value if no collective bargaining agreement is signed. Other than the parties as direct stakeholders, thousands of non-players, say, coaches, trainers and staff personnel, stadium workers and ticket sellers, promo men, and others also become sacrificial lambs.

In terms of fans, it’s likely that the Filipino NBA cage buffs which are very many will be hard hit in their enthusiastic expectations for another year of NBA thrillers.