The NBA Joins The NFL In Locking Out It's Players.

by: ChasinDatPaper

Two of America's favorite pastimes, professional football and basketball, are involved in messy labor negotiations that are threatening their upcoming seasons.

Both the NFL and the NBA have locked out their players. The NFL did so several months ago, while the NBA shut it's doors at midnight this morning.

During the lockouts teams can have no contact with players. Meaning injured players can't work out at team facilities or consult team doctors or coaches. There will also be no free agency or trades.

NFL owners have made significant strides in their negotiations with the players over the past month. Leading many to believe their season has a chance to start on time.

The same can't be said about the NBA, where the players and owners are so far apart in negotiations there might not be a 2011 season at all.

"We had a great year in terms of the appreciation of our fans for our game. It just wasn't a profitable one for the owners, and it wasn't one that many of the smaller market teams particularly enjoyed or felt included in," NBA commissioner David Stern said according to ESPN. "The goal here has been to make the league profitable and to have a league where all 30 teams can compete."

"The problem is that there's such a gap in terms of the numbers, where they are and where we are, and we just can't find any way to bridge that gap," Executive Director of the NBA Billy Hunter said.

What are your thoughts on the NBA and NFL lockouts in general?