I am the 76 percent.
An AFP poll released Monday determined 76 percent of Americans weren’t missing the NBA, one week after the 2011-12 season was scheduled to start.
Of the other 24 percent, it was split down the middle between people who missed the NBA and folks without an opinion on the topic.
You have to also take race into consideration of the random 1,179 registered voters that were polled. It’s no secret the NBA is neck-and-neck with the NFL in terms of popularity within the African-American community. According to Poll Position, 26 percent of African-Americans said they missed the NBA compared to 8 percent of whites.
Personally, the Occupy College Basketball movement got underway for me Monday night as I sat down on the couch and watched William & Mary vs. St. John’s. Yes, God’sgift (yes, his mama named him that) Achiuwa and Nurideen Lindsey are no LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, but hey, it’s better than nothing.
Christmas is normally the unofficial start of the NBA season as the league traditionally features the reigning champion in a matinee match-up, providing a great distraction from your family as they slowly drive you crazy. The lockout won’t really hit home for a lot of folks until you’re flipping between A Christmas Story marathon and The Yule Log and getting nagged by that random aunt you see once a year.
By the conclusion of the NFL season in February, that 26 percent will likely be doubled for African-Americans. By the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament in March, NBA fans will be jonesing for professional basketball as hockey and baseball will be your only options until the 2012 Olympics at the end of July.
One week without the NBA is one thing — an entire season is another.
Wednesday is shaping up to be doomsday for the 2011-12 NBA season. Commissioner David Stern set a 5 p.m. deadline for the players to accept the owners latest proposed offer, which NBA players’ association president Derek Fisher formally rejected Tuesday afternoon. NBPA executive director Billy Hunter was confident they would schedule a meeting with Stern and the owners prior to the deadline.
“I know David Stern well enough to know that he is always willing to talk so I assume that he and I will have an audience and at that time I can convey to him the sentiments of the players and see if there is any movement on the part of the owners,” Hunter told David Aldridge on NBA TV Tuesday night.
There’s no chance of both sides reaching an agreement by Wednesday afternoon under the proposed deal, which has the players receiving between 49 percent and 51 percent of basketball-related income.
NBA owners and players have done their equal share of procrastinating up until this point and are now engaging in a game of chicken. A lost season would completely negate what turned out to be an exciting 2010-11 campaign, which started with “The Decision” and ended with the Dallas Mavericks knocking off the NBA’s newest villain in the Miami Heat.
It would also mark just the second time a major North American sports league has lost an entire season due to a labor dispute. The players might want to listen to the advice of Bill Guerin, a former NHL player who was a vocal advocate during the hockey work stoppage in 2004-05.
“It is not worth it to any of them to burn games or to burn an entire year,” Guerin told the Dallas Star-Telegram last month regarding the NBA labor dispute. “Burning a year was ridiculous. It wasn’t worth me giving up $9 million a year, or 82 games plus the playoffs, then having a crappy year and being bought out. But it’s not about what is right or wrong — it’s their league. It’s theirs. I feel, personally, I didn’t like guys giving up a year of their career, for what? A few less bucks? Guys are making more money than they ever have.”
Ultimately the stubbornness from both sides will result in the NBA losing the casual sports fan and placing the sport a distant third behind the NFL and MLB in terms of national popularity.
Brace yourself for a day that could go down in NBA infamy.
