If the NBA Cancels the 2011-2012 Season, Who'd be the Winners and Losers?
The glum faces of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Baron Davis in the background of the above picture really say it all.
The NBA lockout is snowballing along, and now the entire 2011-2012 season is at stake. As with any major development in The Association, this potential cancellation comes chalk full of winners and losers.
While some parties would obviously be hurt by a lack of basketball games in the coming months, others would actually benefit from it (well, if you look at it optimistically enough).
So here's a glass half full and half empty approach to the news.
Read on for the five biggest winners and losers of a potential season cancellation.
Winner: Oklahoma City Thunder and Other Young Teams
1 of 10As the older teams get older, so too do the younger teams. But as opposed to putting extra mileage on the wheels of the players who are already nearing retirement, these years are beneficial for young guys because they're filled with more knowledge and experience.
Take the Oklahoma City Thunder, for example. With Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and James Harden, the Thunder are young enough that they can emerge from the lockout as winners and become even more of a contender in the Western Conference.
This will hold true for the rest of the young teams in the NBA.
Loser: San Antonio Spurs and Other Old Teams
2 of 10Just as the younger teams are helped, the older teams are going to be extremely hurt by a season-long lockout.
We've already been talking about how the championship window may be closing for the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and other older teams in the NBA. Tim Duncan already had too spend far more time on the bench last season. Kobe Bryant already had to deal with way too many minor injuries and skip practices to stay healthy.
These teams need to win now. It's hard to win now when there aren't games.
Winner: New Jersey Nets
3 of 10The New Jersey Nets are soon going to move to Brooklyn and become the...wait for it...drum roll...creatively-named Brooklyn Nets.
Well, a full season off would simply bring the franchise one year closer to moving to Brooklyn, developing a larger fanbase and having so much more to offer underneath owner Mikhail Prokhorov.
Jay Z and the Nets could also use this as added motivation in getting free agents to sign on with the up-and-coming team. Maybe Deron Williams will even be willing to stay.
Loser: Veterans
4 of 10This one is pretty similar to the older teams one.
The veterans of the league have limited opportunities to increase their legacy. They have fewer years to win championships, accumulate stats and leave a lasting impression before it's time to call it a career.
For example, Kobe Bryant is arguably a top 10 player all time, but if he's going to get people to unanimously agree to that, he's going to need as many years of production as possible.
Then there are the even older guys who may even retire if they have have to wait a full year before lacing their sneakers back up.
Any way you look at it, the cancellation of the season would be awful for the veterans.
Winner: Retired Players
5 of 10Without any current NBA action to watch, we have three options:
1. We could not do anything basketball-related.
2. We could watch foreign leagues.
3. We could brush up on our basketball history and learn about the retired players from years past.
I think I know which two options I'm going with.
Loser: Fans
6 of 10No explanation needed.
I want basketball in my life.
Winner: Foreign Leagues
7 of 10There has been a surprisingly large number of players that have bolted for foreign leagues so far. Even the Chinese Basketball Association has been gaining new members despite their new no opt-out clause.
Deron Williams is the most notable signing of the offseason thus far, going to the Turkish club Besiktas for $5 million. In doing so, he became the first superstar to agree to play overseas during his prime.
Now, it appears as though Kobe Bryant is following in his footsteps and going to Italy. The longer the lockout drags on, the better it will be for the foreign leagues.
Loser: LeBron James
8 of 10The hate for LeBron James never ends, not even during the lockout.
If the Miami Heat superstar makes even a single mistake at any point, he's going to ridiculed endlessly for it. Without his play on the basketball court redeeming himself and his performance during the 2011 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, it's going to be awfully tough for James to boost his reputation even the slightest bit.
That said, he has the ability to become a winner during a full-season lockout as well.
Winner: LeBron James
9 of 10If and only if LeBron James manages to stay out of the spotlight and maintain a low profile during a full-season lockout, he could emerge as a winner.
As much hatred as he gets on a daily basis (really, when was the last time you went a full day without seeing some anti-LeBron propaganda?), it'll be nice for him to lay low for a full year, even though he won't be doing what he loves more than anything else.
It gives him a chance to finally improve upon his natural talents—something that he's already been doing by working with Hakeem Olajuwon to develop some much-needed post moves. He could come back without quite so much hatred and a brand new game.
Loser: The NBA
10 of 10Whenever there's been a game-cancelling lockout in major sports, the popularity of the league has taken a hit.
The shortened NBA season in 1998 didn't go over so well, nor did the cancellation of an entire NHL season back in 2004-2005 or the 1994 MLB strike. Right now, the NBA is incredibly popular thanks to the exciting NBA Finals and the free agency bonanza of the summer of 2010. The last thing that David Stern and the rest of the league needs is to lose this momentum.
As much as the teams, players and fans would lose, the league itself would lose the most.
Right now, Bleacher Report is running a poll on the NBA homepage asking, "If there is a strike, will NBA suffer like MLB after '94?" At the time of this writing, there were 1696 votes cast with an overwhelming 65.2 percent saying yes.
That right there says it all.
Adam Fromal is a syndicated writer and Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
