Opening night of the 2011/12 NBA season was scheduled for November 1st, with Chicago at Dallas, Houston at Utah, and Oklahoma City at the Lakers.
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Those games, however, were all cancelled, along with every other matchup up until November 15th thanks to the league's current lockout. And if no progress is made in the talks between owners and players soon another batch of games will be abandoned.
Team training camps and the entire preseason schedule were the previous victims of the league's lockout, and now the NBA's marquee Christmas Day matchups could be in jeopardy thanks to the contentious negotiations – this year's December 25th slate had been scheduled to feature Boston at New York, Miami at Dallas, and Chicago at the Lakers.
So while there isn't any official league activity going on right now we still have two streams of news – updates on all the bargaining, and players signing overseas.
At the heart of the dispute is a fight over money – the division of basketball revenues between the league and its players. The players received 57% of all basketball-related income under the old agreement and were happy with that number. However, the owners want that number reduced to as low as 50% or 51% this time.
Changes to the salary cap and the luxury tax are also being proposed, along with new rules on free agency; the two sides began a mediation process on Tuesday.
In the meantime, players are either going to Europe or Asia to play basketball. Kobe Bryant was reportedly going to sign a contract to play a few games with an Italian team, but that deal has apparently fallen through, while Deron Williams has been playing over in the Turkish League.
The last time the league had a lockout in 1998 it was resolved in time to stage a shortened, 50-game season. So who would benefit from a shortened 2011/12 season?
The defending champs from Dallas, for one, would get more rest after last year's long campaign, and their veteran roster wouldn't be hurt by the lack of preparation time.
Other veteran clubs like the Spurs, Lakers, and Celtics would probably benefit from a shorter season as well to save some wear and tear.
Teams full of younger players or those with new pieces on the roster would have less time to find out what works for them – that includes clubs like the Cavaliers, Timberwolves, and Jazz who have high drafts picks set to make their debuts.
