Now that NFL owners and players have come to terms on a new 10-year labor agreement, the focus turns to another league embroiled in its own lockout: The NBA. Some basketball commentators are speculating about what one resolution could mean for the promise of another. "Typically, negotiations never get serious until a deadline for canceling games looms. The NBA is months away from that -- and miles away from an agreement," says K.C. Johnson at the Chicago Tribune. But others are more optimistic. Here, a rundown of the best takes on what happens now for the NBA negotiations:
Follow the NFL's lead: "If there is one thing the NBA can learn from the NFL, it's that it is never too late to save your season. Especially if you can do it when the season has yet to start," says Sam Amico at Fox Sports Ohio. "Basically, NBA owners and players must grasp the fact that, because of what just happened in the NFL, the pressure is really on."
It's an entirely different beast: "Things are very different with the NBA. At the end of the day, NFL teams were making money, just not as much as the owners used to so they wanted more. In the NBA, the league says 22 of the 30 teams lost money last year," says Kurt Helin at NBC Sports. "While we can quibble over the accounting, the bottom line is that plenty of teams are not making money and many of those teams are owned by people who paid a premium for those teams and are leveraged. They are coming in with a harder line, and there needs to be changes in the NBA structure."
Fans factor in: "The NBA is nowhere near the NFL in popularity and probably never will be," says Mark Medina at the Los Angeles Times. "Fans gear up for every week of the NFL because the games actually matter, while most don't even pay attention to the NBA except during marquee matchups and when the playoffs start."
Hey, it could be worse: "If we want to sigh, it's the NFL. If we want to grimace, it's the NBA. If we want to scream, it's the budget crisis," jokes Mike Lopresti at USA Today.