NBA Lockout: Talks of Progress Meaningless Until Players Are on the Court

If you believe what Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports has to say about the recent NBA lockout negotiations, then you should be encouraged. Just keep your enthusiasm to a minimum until a deal is signed and players are on the court.

It's natural when these things happen for both sides to try to win the PR battle. We saw that with the NFL over the spring and summer, and are now seeing it again in the NBA.

But the fact of the matter is that the majority of fans just do not care. The only thing that matters to them is that the players get on the court, and fast.

The NFL players and owners could afford to play the PR battle a little more. As bad as it was at times, we were never that close to losing games. Ultimately, the Hall of Fame Game and some training camp was cancelled, but everything else went off as previously scheduled.

That's not the case in the NBA. As a matter of fact, the NBA has already cancelled its entire preseason and some regular season games.

What does this mean as it relates to any progression? Well, any progress is good, but the NBA simply can't afford to take baby steps. The NFL had that luxury.

So, the fact that Wojnarowski referred to this as "some progress in smaller issues" is hardly a reason to be happy.

Some progress and smaller issues still indicate that there is a long way to go before we see any NBA action.

I'm just wondering how much more of this the fans should be expected to take. If they have been in negotiations for three days and yielded "some progress in smaller issues," what are the chances that big progress on big issues is going to be made any time soon?

That's in the eye of the beholder, I guess. Honestly, I hope I am wrong, but I am not seeing any reason to be optimistic.