by Adam Aucoin

The Boston Celtics are World Champions. This is a sentence most New Englanders have heard many a time throughout the years. Remember back in 2008, when the Celtics won their most recent title. I can still vividly recall the feeling I had when the last seconds were ticking off the clock that night. I remember seeing them hoist the trophy in the air and KG screaming, “Anything’s Possible!” This is one of the greatest moments in Boston sports history, but it won’t be happening this year if the NBA owners and players don’t resolve this lockout that has dragged on for so long.

The players and the owners are trying to create a new collective bargaining agreement that will decide how the revenue the NBA makes will be split up and addresses many more league wide topics. Some of the topics that are being discussed are competitive balance among the teams, the NBA salary cap and possible lessening of teams in the future. The previous agreement, in 2005, split up basketball related income, giving 57% to the players and the other 43% to the owners. In the recent negotiations, the players are willing to decrease that number to a 52-48 split. The owners are not satisfied with that, wanting an equal 50-50 split of revenue to both sides. This has been the final obstacle to getting a deal done. Most of the other issues within the negotiations have been resolved.

So let’s analyze this a bit. This is a bunch of millionaire players and billionaire owners fighting over who gets a bigger piece of the pie? Are these people serious? You guys are making millions of dollars a year to play a game. Although basketball is a tremendous sport, when it comes down to it, it’s just a game. I wish I was paid that amount of money to just play a game. I’m not disputing that these guys are the best in the world at what they do, but come on. They are making that amount of money and are afraid to give a little up. When it comes down to it, both sides are being greedy and that is a fact.

If they haven’t noticed, our economy is horrible right now. Many people are out of jobs, struggling to get by and survive in this country. They are keeping people out of jobs. What about that ticket vendor or maintenance guy or any other person employed by the NBA? These people are forced to struggle, while this lockout continues. Talk about selfish. Oh yeah, there’s also the fans, myself included, that are being deprived of a sport we love to watch. I don’t think they realize the impact they have on the fans. I would sit on my couch every night the Celtics were on and watch intently to see how the team did. During the offseason, I would be intrigued with all the offseason moves. Even LeBron’s, “The Decision,” that said he was signing with the Miami Heat captivated me. As much of a debacle as that was, I was still watching anticipating where he would go. Not having it in our lives, is like taking away part of our culture. This sport is very important to so many people out there, and with this lockout we won’t be able to see it. In the end, the longer this goes on, the more it will hurt the NBA. They already have lost games to the lockout and coming off all the momentum of last year, it will be tough to regain the support they had. This lockout must end soon, for the good of the players and all the fans that they entertain on a nightly basis.