NBA Lockout: 10 Reasons To Enjoy the Lockout

The NBA has declared that the first two weeks of the NBA season will be cancelled, and the future is not looking very bright. 

David Stern has stated that their is a "gulf" between the owners and the players, which will not be bridged any time soon. 

NBA players have taken to Twitter using phrases like "Let Us Play" or "#StandUnited", (or "@ESPNClayton when is the deadline for a team to sign a player") to proclaim their want and need to play the game they "love" so much. The fans have agreed, also using the #StandUnited hashtag, and advocating for the NBA to begin operation again. 

I am not one of those people. 

Here are the Top 10 reasons why as fans, we should be enjoying the NBA lockout. 

10. LeBron James

We are all sick and tired of hearing about LeBron James. 

Why can't LeBron do this? Why can't LeBron do that? How many rings does LeBron have? 

The LeBron analysis, commentary and even the LeBron jokes are continually overdone (and that's coming from a Cavs fan).

Without an NBA season, the LeBron talk would be hush at least on the basketball side of things. There would be no NBA Finals to make fun of him for, no statistics to analyze, no bad losses to criticize, and it would be so incredibly peaceful.

Of course, because he is LeBron, he's going to make headlines somehow, but I'm more than willing to accept LeBron headlines if they don't involve the NBA season.

I'm sure we would all love to see him in an NFL jersey. 

9. Chris Broussard

I could easily, EASILY, go a year without seeing this guy's mug talking about the NBA.

Chris Broussard is easily one of the most annoying analysts in the entire ESPN, and maybe even television. His voice is about as awful as they come, and I think that my sister could do a better job of being less biased. 

It's unbelievable to me how this guy still covers the NBA for ESPN when there are so many other guys out there that could be so much better than him. 

A year with no NBA means a year without Chris Broussard's crooked smile on television. 

That alone could be enough to want this lockout to last.

8. Shaq

Shaq knew the NBA couldn't exist without him—that's why he retired when he did.  

The NBA won't be nearly the same without the Big AARP, The Big Shamrock, Witness Protection Program, Shaqtus, The Big Diesel or the Big Aristotle.

A year without the NBA would give us more time to adjust to basketball without Shaq.  

7. The Losers Get a Break

Ahhh. The Cavs won't lose a game this season. 

Nor will Milwaukee. Nor will Sacramento. Nor will the Timberwolves... The list goes on and on.

For the fans of teams in rebuilding phases, a skipped season means a lot of things. 

In addition to not having to endure yet another season filled with painful losses, the rebuilding phase could be fast-forwarded a year. 

More pieces could be added to the puzzle and the young guys can have another year to develop. Sure, they won't gain any real game experience, but then again, neither will anyone else.

Plus, another set of draft picks, and the same lottery chances, wouldn't hurt anyone.  

6. Pau Gasol

Tell me that you couldn't go a year without seeing that face on TV. 

I dare you. 

Especially you, ladies. 

5. One Less Year without Super Teams

The lockout also helps to prevent the unavoidable epidemic of super teams. 

Thanks to the Celtics and Heat, but mostly the Heat, the NBA is headed to the age of the super team.

Guys like Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, who are seemingly "alone" in Orlando and New Orleans, are bound to head off to the likes of New York, Brooklyn or Los Angeles and create a four to six team NBA.

The small market teams will have no chance for a title, and the interest in the NBA will continue to dwindle below the low level it's already at. 

So Orlando, NOLA, you should be rooting for the lockout too, so you can keep your guys for another season.

Believe me, it sucks when they leave.  

4. NBA Players Can Invest Their Time in Different Things

LeBron in a football jersey. 

Another Metta World Peace Rap Album.

Steve Nash in an MLS jersey.

More things like Shaq being a jockey. 

Imagine the possibilities that would come out of bored NBA players. 

The possibilities are endless. And awesome.

Think Chad Johnson but in NBA player form. 

3. The Miami Heat

No. 10 and No. 3 could be viewed as the same thing, but for the sake of this article I'll deem them as different. 

The Miami Heat, for a number of reasons, are the most hated team in the NBA, yet, they get the most publicity out of any team in the league. Between Bosh, Wade and James, the Heat get enough publicity to make up for three Milwaukee Bucks and two Sacramento Kings seasons. 

I may be generalizing again, but I would think that most fans are tired of hearing about the Big 3 and their talents in South Beach.

Without an NBA season, there would be no Bosh, Wade and LeBron, unless they star in some sort of commercial, and more importantly there would be no Miami Heat. 

No offense to Joel Anthony, Udonis Haslem and the rest of the supporting cast. 

Wait, I take that back. Yes offense. 

2. More Emphasis on the NFL

No NBA=More NFL. 

With the 2011 season off to a great start and the ending of the NFL lockout, the NFL has more fan interest than ever.

More NFL coverage on TV, in magazines, on Twitter, Facebook, ESPN or any media source, would be a wonderful thing for sports fanatics across the Nation.

We'll use the city of Detroit as the prime example. The Pistons are barely better than my Cavs, but the Lions are 5-0. 

Do you think the fans in Detroit care about the lockout at this point?

Nope. (Sorry Brandon Knight.)

1. A Year-Long Lockout Means the Owners Will Win

The last, and most important, reason the fans of the NBA, especially those fans who do not like the Miami Heat, should be enjoying this lockout is that if the lockout lasts a year, the owners will have won the battle and will have possibly saved the NBA. 

The NBA is headed into a demise. 

LeBron spearheaded the revolution. Go play with your friends, leave your family at home. 

That logic is beginning to sweep the NBA. First LeBron, then Carmelo, and if things continue, CP3 and Dwight will be next. 

The league will be compromised of four to six legitimate teams: Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and a random team that will differ each and every year.

The NBA will be ruined. It won't be a league, but instead a daily Globetrotters game in which the Globetrotters beat up on the Senators, but occasionally play another Globetrotters team which will be somewhat competitive.

This NBA would never last.

If the NBA lockout lasts a year, the Owners will have saved the NBA. The owners in Milwaukee, Sacramento, Memphis, Orlando and maybe even Dan Gilbert will have come on top and created a hard salary cap that won't allow for this kind of behavior among these players.

The super teams will be a thing of the past, and the NBA we know and love will be saved.

So if we have to sacrifice a season for the greater good of the sport of basketball and a more competitive NBA, so be it.

It would most definitely be worth it.