I want my NBA!

Filipino NBA fans are one with the rest of the hoop world in their agony whether they will have a 2011-12 season.
After relishing tons of fresh NBA games, updates and features for years, Pinoy fans are facing the horror that there won’t be a full season. It’s not the fault of the Basketball TV network but you can only take so much of Hardwood Classics.
Fans are craving for current basketball news and features. And there’s nothing to show because there’s nothing happening.
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The players’ lockout, where the players are demanding to retain 57 percent of basketball-related income or a figure close to it, has canceled the pre-season and all the interest that normally goes into the buildup before the games explode.
Of late, there is no end in sight, as the owners have countered with a 50-50 split offer which the players have disapproved.
Keep in mind here that each percentage point is equivalent to tons of money, given the NBA is a huge entertainment platform.
The owners have claimed they are struggling to make ends meet while the players are saying they are the main draw, the reason there is a league.
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NBA fans don’t want to get into the nitty-gritty of the negotiations. All they know is that their league won’t start on time, may not play that many games and could have no season at all.
NBA analyst David Aldridge says in the NBA website that fans don’t care who “wins or loses. They just want their basketball.”
The current impasse is like that portion of a tug-of-war where the flag is in the middle and nothing is moving. It’s a debate between two sides that are fundamentally correct.
This is similar to management-labor disputes, or even between schools that must raise tuition fees to pay teachers and build classrooms and parents who complain that they can hardly send their kids to school.
The only difference perhaps is that there is a sense that the NBA superstars seem to have no right to demand more than their already large paychecks.
They are already paid handsomely enough so there’s no reason to engage in this fencing duel with the owners.
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But it’s an issue of fairness as well. The league and the owners do make a substantial lot from the performances and personas of its stars.
Go to any merchandising outlet in an NBA city or the store inside the team building. The fans look for the images and jerseys of LeBron, Kobe, Derrick, Dwyane, and others.  They go to the games and devour the popcorn, hotdogs and sodas while enjoying their performances.
On the other hand, the players have to understand that there are operational costs in maintaining teams aside from player salaries.
There are venue maintenance expenses as well as promotional and public relations costs to forge and maintain a strong bond with the community the NBA teams resides in.
And when the teams do not perform up to par or have a horrible season, the whole team suffers with low gate receipts and poor retail purchases.
It’s the owners who have to face the balance sheet of a forgettable season.
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So where does this leave the fans?
Unfortunately out in the cold.
The players and the owners have to do a better job of sharing the ball so that the fans who are the real lifeline of any sporting endeavor, get their basketball fill as soon as possible.
If everybody wants the ball, then the 2011-12 season faces the grim possibility of having an asterisk and a blank space alongside it when sports historians review this era.