The NBA Lockout is Over

So it appears that the NBA lockout may be a thing of the past and labor peace is on the horizon. Well not quite, because the players still have to ratify the agreement. But that is most likely pro forma at this point. A sign of how things are going is the action of the players association, which just put the brakes on its antitrust suit against the owners.

Following a frantic camp opening and free-agent frenzy on December 9th, the season will be set to start with a 66-game season on Christmas Day. Traditionally that has been the NBA's biggest audience of the season. I have missed the NBA, missed wondering how my Bulls were going to get help for Derek Rose; missed seeing how LeBron and company deal with the "agony of defeat" following their poor showing in the finals to the Mavs.

But all that us about to change come December 9, with the delayed start of a new season. What is left unsaid, like the elephant in the room, is what the league intends to do about 32 teams, which I feel is too many to be sustained by the current economics of the NBA.

There are teams in trouble all over the league, which admits losing $300 million dollars in 2010-11. There is a team tottering in Sacramento, and the league owns and runs the New Orleans franchise because it can't find buyers. Other teams are certainly marginal in terms of financial health, but nobody is talking contraction yet. That needs to be on the table for the long-term survivability of this league.

What also needs to be part of continuing discussion is the minimum age for NBA eligibility. Yes Hall of Fame basketball players have come into the league right out of high school, but there is not a LeBron James in every draft. When kids are allowed to skip college and enter the NBA draft what is essentially does is gut college programs. Or worse, kids commit to a school, stay one year and then bolt. At the very least it's a bad public image black eye for the NBA and they ought to fix that. Raise that age to 20, please!

They did manage to divvy up a smaller economic pie and the owners caved on a hard salary cap; I just don't want to see this league and its players six years down the road in worse shape because of moves they made during this bargaining season. Either side can opt out of the deal in that time frame. That's not reassuring either.

As a fan of NBA basketball I am glad they will be on the court again soon, but what will this cost in the long run in ticket prices, cable/satellite TV costs and the overall viability of the league? We'll see, because ultimately we'll be the ones paying the higher costs that will be passed on to us.