No Opening Night: NBA

This is usually the night, the stars of the NBA come out and Dallas begins its title defense.  This year instead of playing on the hardwood, NBA owners and players occasionally sit around a hardwood table and talk about the most pressing issues, trying to hammer out a labor deal in order to have some sort of a basketball season.  Owners and players are at a stalemate over basketball related income (players don't want to take less than 53%),  length of contracts (players want teams to be able to sign their own (Bird) guys to 5 year deals and others to 4 whereas owners want 4 and 3) , and the salary cap. (hard or soft cap)  this lockout is different then it was in the NFL, there are NBA teams loosing money and they want to fix things.  Last week it appeared they might be able to agree and save a full NBA season, until talks broke off.  Only the die hard NBA fans are going to miss basketball until Christmas, we're in the middle of an exciting NFL season and we got the NHL.  If NBA players and owners can get back to the negotiating table by next week, right now there not even scheduled to meet, and hammer out a deal by Thanksgiving we can have a 60 or so game season, that would start on Christmas.  One source I talked to said if their was a season it would be 50 games at best.  It sounds like the NBA might be willing to take the year off, by canceling the entire season.  If they cancel the entire season they should have a plan to get their fans back, when they do return.  I think they are prepared to take the season off money wise.