For weeks and months, the NBA lockout has loomed as a dark cloud over the league, even putting a dampener on one of the best Finals in recent memory. Now, it is about to become a reality.
At midnight tonight, team owners will lock out the players after a series of disappointing meetings failed to bridge the gap between the two sides' proposals regarding a new collective bargaining agreement. But there are plans for further discussions to be held over the months ahead, with the hope of reaching an outcome in time for training camps in September.
At this stage, however, there is a very real risk that the 2011/12 season will be shortened or even wiped out altogether, just at a time when the league's popularity is going through the roof. The intrigue of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade spearheading the vilified Miami Heat, and Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire teaming up in New York has fans on the edge of their seats. A lengthy lockout would hit the league hard.
The last lockout came in 1999, when the 82-game season was shortened to 50. Fans all around the world are hoping there will not be a repeat in 2011/12.
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