The NBA Lockout continues, and more players are considering playing overseas. Deron Williams was the first to announce that he will play in Turkey as long as the lockout continues into the regular season, but more people are being rumored to play overseas, as well as others, like Kevin Durant, who have confirmed as much. Deron Williams said in an interview the other day that if the NBA gets what they want in cutting player salaries by 33%, Kobe Bryant would still be the highest paid player in the NBA, but compared to other sports, he will be making far less money and could probably make more money playing in China where he will be treated better by the Chinese Basketball Association.
If Kobe, Deron WIlliams, Kevin Durant, and other stars leave even for a partial period of time, it sends a clear message to the NBA that the players do not need the NBA to make money and be successful. If such a thing does happen, the slow, but eventual death of the NBA will happen once it can no longer attract American talent who will instead opt to find work in Spain, Turkey, or China.
But if the players get their way to keep things as is, we will see even more super teams like the Miami Heat. Although the Heat did not win the championship, they did reach the Finals, something that many haters wished dearly would not happen. I almost never root for the Celtics, but I was finding myself a Celtics fan last year, hoping they would knock the Heat out of the playoffs. Unfortunately the Heat won, but the Mavericks prevailed. What's going to happen when the few teams who are making money decide to do what Miami did?
A league with no parity cannot sustain itself, as evidenced when Detroit and San Antonio met in an epic 7-game series in 2005. Viewers tuned away from the NBA, after seeing the Lakers fail to qualify for the playoffs. Even though the last 2 champions were meeting in the Finals, just like the Celtics and Lakers in '87, nobody really gives a shit about either the Spurs or Pistons. TO this day, the 2005 Finals are the least watched Finals of all-time, thanks in no small part to the NBA being a league with no parity.
So if the owners win, the league dies because all the current and future stars go to play overseas. High school kids will change their mind on what sport to focus on, seeing that there's more money to be made in football or baseball. If the players win, more superteams will be made and every team will be a feeder-team for the Lakers, Heat, Knicks, and Bulls.
Some kind of medium needs to be met, because neither side is looking good in this lockout and neither side will win everything they want.
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