NBA Lockout: David Stern Crushes Fans by Canceling First Two Weeks of Season

The first two weeks of the 2011-12 NBA season have officially been canceled after failing to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Despite a marathon meeting between the players and owners Monday that lasted approximately eight hours, there was not enough progress made to save the initial portion of the campaign.

To make matters even worse, there are no meetings scheduled between the parties at any point in the foreseeable future.

While that certainly doesn't mean that a re-kindling of the conversation can't occur, this is now going to get a lot messier and uglier before it gets any better.

Commissioner David Stern is a master of the media, and much like his ominous threats that have loomed prior, the quotes he provided Monday certainly made it seem as if he's not feeling too optimistic going forward.

"With every day that goes by, there will be further reductions on what’s left of the season," he said.

Thus far, the action scheduled between Nov. 1-14 has been eliminated, but with the absence of progress as the calendar continues to turn, the league will have no choice but to continue and eliminate more regular-season games from the calendar.

It's incredible that there is still a sizable margin between the two sides after the groups met for about 14 hours over the last two days but seemingly made minimal strides toward the ultimate goal.

For the second time during Stern's tenure as commissioner, the NBA will be forced to strike games from the calendar and play a truncated season.

There has been a case made for Stern as the best commissioner in all of sports, but that thought is simply unfathomable to me as he's now overseen two work stoppages in less than 15 years.

While NBPA executive director Billy Hunter said that it would be a "serious" mistake to think that players will start caving when checks are missed, it's imperative to note the owners' offers could very well only get worse from this point.

The commissioner went as far as to suggest that exact concept after the meetings concluded.

After months of hearing about how basketball-related income) was the major topic dividing the two sides, NBPA president Derek Fisher conceded the system issues have now become a more divisive issue than the split.

That's not a surprise at this point. It's extremely difficult for either side to put its best foot forward in terms of an offer for a BRI split when the system remains an unresolved issue.

Stern hinted that if the system issues can be agreed upon, it would be a critical point in the negotiating process that could help to bridge the gap between the parties.

Stern asked if system issues could be tackled, would economic split fall into place, said, "Yes."

Despite most being discouraged by the news, this is a situation the players have been preparing for and expecting for more than two years.

Fisher wasn't surprised at the cancellation of the first two weeks, and he's said all along that this is about getting a fair deal for now and for the future of the league's players. "We anticipated being in this situation, and here we are," he said.

There is no chance of the regular season featuring 82 games, and it's incredibly unfortunate that the fans are the ones who suffer as a result of the dissension.

Stern made it rather clear that the two sides remain far apart on a variety of issues, and his portentous comments inspired no reason for optimism from anyone.

"Very, very far apart on virtually all issues," he said. "And every day that goes by, we need to look at further reductions in what's left in the season.

In other words, it's hard to imagine an improved offer coming from the owners at any point in future negotiations at this point.

Stern is clearly attempting to break the union in its desire to stand united, and it'll be interesting to see exactly what happens on Nov. 15, the first date when players are slated to begin missing paychecks.

Union VP Matt Bonner offered an inside look at the hard-line stance the players are prepared to take: "That’s the point of a lockout, let the players miss paychecks and they’ll cave. But we’ve been preparing for over two years, ready for this moment, ready for right now."

His follow-up comments were even more telling.

"If they’re going to test our resolve, it scares me," he said. "Because the players really are ready to stick together and see this thing through."

It scares the fans, too.

Despite the two first weeks getting wiped from the calendar, Hunter did say that he doesn't see the entire season being lost.

At least not yet.

I think it would be foolish for them to kill the season," Hunter said. "We're coming off the best season in the history of the NBA, and I'm not so sure in this kind of economy if there is a protracted lockout whether the league will recover."

Stern said that any further cancellations that may need to be made will likely come in two-week increments.

Coming off a season where the NBA had its best ratings since Michael Jordan retired and the draft was the most-watched selection process in 15 years despite the obvious lack of talent, fans are left without basketball.

It's nice to know that Stern is thinking about the future of the league.