nba lockout 2011
Pigs are flying. Hell has frozen over. Add any other cliché that you can think of to symbolize the occurrence of something that seemed nearly impossible.
Yes, it has finally happened. The NBA lockout has finally met its demise and I couldn’t be happier.
The 2011-2012 season is set to begin on Christmas Day, Dec. 25. In my mind, it’ll be as very merry of a Christmas as I could ever imagine.
The intoxicating smell of the pine wafting off of the Christmas tree. The beauty of wrapped presents sitting in a neat little stack. The Yule log burning on the television screen. The stocking overflowing the crap that I’ll never use. The shriek of sneakers as they skid along the Staples Center hardwood. The only thing that could make Christmas any better is a soft blanket of snow lying upon the ground, but that’s as unlikely in Southern California as LeBron James winning a ring.
I apologize to people who are waiting for mentions of religious things on Christmas Day, but that’s not how I roll.
As a life-long Lakers fan, I’m just glad to know that I will enjoy the pleasure of watching the purple and gold play before next fall. Mike Brown will get his opportunity to follow in Phil Jackson’s footsteps and Kobe Bryant will get another shot at earning the Lakers one more championship banner.
That’s all good and dandy, but there are some folks out there who aren’t taking so kindly to the NBA’s return.
The one thing that has really irritated me throughout the 149 days that the NBA Lockout consumed was the haters out there who have apparently flushed any faithfulness they had for the league down the pooper.
I understand the concept that trying to act like you don’t care is a way of rebelling against the league’s greed, but don’t kid yourself. You know that as soon as games are back on and players like Dwayne Wade and Kevin Durant are flooding the headlines of your favorite sports website, you’ll fall off the hard-liner bandwagon in no time.
The NBA isn’t going to lower ticket prices because a few crazies decided to boycott the games. Players aren’t going to give up their luxurious way of life because fans displayed their frustration via Twitter. The owners will never, ever change their mindsets because a few lower class Joe Schmoes lost their jobs due to a lockout. If both sides were willing to give up millions of dollars in revenue and salaries throughout the first month of the season while arguing over one percent of the basketball related income, there’s no telling what their limit is.
If it wasn’t that big of a deal, no one would have cared throughout the first five months. So please, just get over it and get back to enjoying the sport that many of us have grown to love.
Go Lakers! Celtics and Heat suck! Kobe’s the G.O.A.T.! I’m done.