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Still damaged One year later, lockout cloud hangs over NBA
Posted: Tuesday December 28, 1999 06:08 PM
The NBA isn't afraid of any Y2K disasters. In fact, the only way the Year 2000 could be a problem is if it in any way resembles 1999. While others try to predict what will happen in the new year, people around the NBA should be focused on what they hope won't happen. First, let's hope that the players and owners don't give people a reason to turn away from the league, the way they did with the labor problems that wiped out the first three months of the season last year. When 1999 began, the two sides were still squabbling over how to divide a multi-billion dollar pie, and many fans were so disgusted that they didn't care if the season ever began. The games finally started in February, but the lockout cast a shadow over the year from which the league still hasn't fully emerged. We can only hope that no more of the league's biggest stars decide to retire in the new year, as Michael Jordan did in 1999. Jordan's departure left the NBA without the most popular athlete in sports, and his friend Charles Barkley's career came to an abrupt end when he was injured earlier this season, leaving the NBA without perhaps the funniest athlete in sports. The league can't afford similar losses in 2000. The folks at the NBA offices are probably hoping that the league's bad boys stay out of the spotlight in the new year. Latrell Sprewell, the noted coach-choker, drew more national attention than any player in the league in 1999. When his suspension for attacking former Golden State coach P.J. Carlesimo finally ended, Sprewell was traded to the New York Knicks and helped lead them to the Finals. Although Sprewell behaved himself on the court, the Knicks' success helped keep his prior bad acts in the public's consciousness, which didn't do much to help the league's image. Everyone is hoping that the point totals don't return to the pathetically low levels of 1999, when only one team, the Sacramento Kings, managed to average 100 points per game. The league put in new rules this season designed to limit defensive contact and make for higher scoring, and so far the plan has worked. We may have seen the end of 79-74 games marked by the kind of bumping and grabbing more suited for the NFL, which is good news for both players and fans. What the NBA needs is a year that showcases its strengths, not its flaws. 1999 will go down in NBA history as the year the league was derailed a bit, but 2000 could be remembered as the year it got back on track. At least this year, the league should know where all the potholes are. Sports Illustrated senior writer Phil Taylor covers the NBA and appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN's This Week in the NBA.
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