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Showtime comes to a grinding halt
After thriving while the other major sports leagues dealt with labor strife in the past decade, the NBA finally hit a snag of its own. On July 1, the owners voted to lock out the players and reopen collective-bargaining talks, with the aim of creating a more owner-friendly revenue-sharing plan with the Players Association, as well as controlling rapidly rising salaries. The first three months of the '98-99 season were wiped out, and by mid-December, talks had not been productive and the rest of the schedule was endangered. The league also faced continuing fallout from the Latrell Sprewell coach-choking incident; Sports Illustrated published a story focusing on the irresponsible behavior of players who have children out of wedlock; and the future of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls was up in the air. But hey, how about that shiny new NBA Store on Fifth Avenue?
Photos by John Biever, Donna Ferrato, Osamu Honda/AP
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