Don’t forget the lockout: Would the NBA really do it?
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Fans of few NBA teams would be as adversely affected by a lockout in 2011-12 as Oklahoma City’s. Lakers fans would miss out on what is likely (or hopefully, in the minds of his rivals) one of the dwindling years of Kobe Bryant’s dominance. The crowded Heat bandwagon, along with longer-serving Miami fans, will be deprived of what could secretly be one of the only seasons when Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh are in sync all year and at the peak of their powers — Wade turns 30 next season after all.
Thunder fans’ disappointment would rate very close. Not only would Oklahoma City miss out on a year of a young Kevin Durant’s brilliance, but this and next season will both be crucial in determining the future of the franchise. To be cold an analytical, missing out on 2011-12 would be one less year of data to decide who to pay and who to let go and one less year to develop young players. Durant is good enough on his own to keep the Thunder out of the lottery and out of lottery-like rookie talents, so the value of every ounce of data, empirical and otherwise, goes up when deciding how to build a team. But from a passion perspective, the Thunder’s meteoric rise toward the top of the Oklahoma City area’s consciousness could seemingly only be stopped by the absence of the franchise altogether or a disappointing season. Somehow, the all-too-real threat of a lockout makes the former more possible, at least for a year, than the latter. Read more…
