NBA Lockout: David Stern's Cancellation Threats Must Not Be Taken Seriously

If we learned one thing from the NFL lockout, it's that the consistent threats of doomsday are not to be taken seriously.

Sure, the longer we go without a deal, the more likely it is that at least some regular season games won't be played.

But the thought echoed here is laughable. In what world would it make sense for the NBA to cancel its season before it even begins?

Even if it results in the NBA getting its way, actual missed games don't help anyone. A missed season is awful. There is no way that the NBA commissioner would actually say that the season is going to be cancelled a month before it actually begins.

This new report actually puts more light on the situation.

Wednesday, September 28 at 8:09 p.m. EDT

Sports Illustrated's Sam Amick had tweeted a much more realistic idea.

Now, it's true that if they can't make significant progress, it doesn't look good. The sides are much more divided in the NBA. The two respective sides are nowhere near as united with each other as they were in the NFL.

The more times we hear about meetings that made absolutely no progress (or even went backwards), the less likely we are to ever see a deal.

I am certainly not predicting that a deal will be made. If you hear people talk, the one thing there doesn't seem to be a lot of is optimism.

Unlike the NFL, the players actually have other options here. In the NFL, the players didn't really have another option. Basketball players have an option to play in Europe or Asia. It's not ideal for them, but it works.

So, there isn't as much of a reason for them to compromise here.

Still, thinking that a deal won't happen and thinking that a deal needs to be done this weekend are two different things.

If you don't think a deal will happen, that's fine. I am not even sure that I disagree with you. But please, don't let your negative opinions be based off of anything that happens this weekend. If this weekend does anything to alter your opinion, it needs to be in a good way. That's the only way that anything practical will happen.