NBA Lockout: Is Commissioner David Stern Killing the NBA's Growth?

There are two things that make today, Nov. 1, an important day on the calendar: (1) post-Halloween Facebook photo albums and (2) the tip-off to the NBA season.

Thanks to the owners, players and the sexiest face in basketball, that of NBA Commissioner David Stern, all I have tonight is social media stalking. No Derrick Rose breaking off Jason “Old Man River” Kidd. No changing of the guard in Kobe vs. Durantula.

The NBA lockout is now on Day 124. Games would not start until December if a deal were to be magically agreed upon tomorrow. And although there are varying reports on the possibility of a full 82-game season, all who suggest it could still happen admit that chances are no better than slim to shady.

This lockout has mirrored the roller coaster that is our current financial system with eerie similarity. One day domestic macroeconomic numbers are good and the stock market rallies. The following day, the financial minister of Slovakia delays a vote on his country’s participation in the European Financial Stability Facility bailout and markets tank. Then, Europe claims they have agreed on a deal to write down Greek debt and the market rises to the best month in a year. What happens the next day? The deal falls apart and the Dow loses 300 points.

The lockout has been just as confusing. The details have been salient enough, but here are some of the more important developments:

-High-profile players committed to teams overseas in unprecedented numbers.

-The NBA owners accused the players association of not committing to the collective bargaining process “fully and in good faith” (NBA Deputy Commissioner and COO Adam Silver).

-National Basketball Players’ Association president Derek Fisher reportedly sent several players a text message in early September suggesting a deal was close. Fisher immediately refuted the story.

-David Stern and Dwayne Wade engaged in a tense exchange of words, after which Wade suggested he was disrespected by Stern.

-A federal mediator was brought in to monitor a 30-hour negotiation marathon held over three days in mid-October. The result: talks broke off.

-The two sides decide to reconvene a week later, and as recently as Oct. 27, both sides publicly agreed a deal was close.

-The following day, Oct. 28, Stern announced a second round of game cancellations through the end of November, and NBA.com suggests the two sides are as far apart as they have ever been in this saga.

Many “in the know” have expressed confidence that a deal will happen soon.

Most technical traders would tell you they know how to read stock market moves. They don’t. I’m certainly not placing any bets on the 2011-12 season.

So who should the innocent investor (you and I, the fans) blame for this mess?

The owners? Sure. The players’ union? Yep.

Regardless of which side has maintained a more hard-line, “one percenter” stance, neither party has shown a consistent and sincere willingness to make concessions and stand by them when a full-blown solution has been within reach.

Most of the All-Stars are negotiating contracts with teams overseas or organizing a Harlem Globetrotters-style exhibition world tour when they should be fully participating in negotiations and backing up Derek Fisher as his loyalty to the union is questioned.

Owners are getting fined by the thousands (Mickey Arison, Michael Jordan, etc.), violating agreements by spouting off about the lockout, yet refusing to see the players’ union as equal in the matter.

But isn’t this to be expected? Players want a deal in place so they can capture their share of the pie as it expands, and owners want to limit how deep they can be forced to reach in to those silky pockets to compile a competitive roster. 

So that leaves the commissioner to save the day. His top priorities should be the health of the league, the fans who pour millions of hard-earned dollars into it and the thousands of people who depend on the NBA for employment. The 99 percent.

Then comes the 1 percent—the millionaire players and owners who are the actors in this absurd soap opera.

I was only 10 years old when the last lockout plagued the NBA, so my understanding of the specifics to this process is minimal. But I saw Wedding Crashers, so I do know that negotiations as important and complex as these require a third party to oversee proceedings from an unbiased highchair.

David Stern has not filled this role. His alliances lay clearly and unabashedly with the owners.

We have already established that the players are not necessarily “in the right” (whatever that may mean), so I would be saying the same thing about Stern if he were throwing his weight behind the players while bogging down the bargaining process.

What he should be doing, in lieu of approaching the players’ union from the owners’ corner, is facilitating and fostering positive discussions between the two parties, guiding each side toward progressive concessions for the good of the league. Yet his tone remains more devoid of emotion than Ben Stein in belaboring the opinion that the union’s collective back remains against the wall and that an agreement remains outside arm’s length.

Perhaps Stern’s intent was originally benevolent, that he truly believed the owners initially held the upper hand once the lockout began (something several reporters have agreed with). He could have logically come to the conclusion that siding with the owners would force the players to say uncle quickly, thus saving the season albeit on very unfavorable terms.

Assuming this to be true, he grossly underestimated the players’ resolve (stubbornness, idiocy, etc.) but has refused to modify his role for fear of being labeled a flip-flopper.

This scenario seems highly unlikely.

Just as the "Occupy" protesters call for corporate heads on a plate, so too should NBA fans and employees demand more of David Stern. Either he pledges neutrality and puts forth his best effort to play impartial mediator, or he steps down as NBA commissioner. This is his chance to show that everyone in the NBA really cares.