July 8, 2011 12:00:00 am

NBA owners dig in for protracted lockout, players look for other options

By Eric Kidd

On July 1, after the Collective Bargaining Agreement ended, the NBA officially declared a lockout. With a number of NBA teams hemorrhaging money, it’s being widely viewed that the NBA may miss games, or even the entire season, heading into 2011-12.

Currently, the players earn 57 percent of the gross basketball revenue income, or BRI. That means that for every dollar that comes into the league, $.57 is put toward player’s salaries. The owners are looking for a dramatic shift in that number, after releasing audited numbers to Forbes showing a $1.65B (yes, that’s billion, with a B) loss over the last five seasons. Those numbers show that a few teams remain highly profitable, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, while smaller market clubs are getting killed. For example, the New Jersey Nets, who were recently purchased by Russian billionaire, Mikhail Prokhorov, lost $44M in 2008-09. Add to that, the fact that this lockout may wipe out ABC, ESPN and TNT out of a combined $1.25B, and this situation gets really messy, really fast.

More than a few NBA players are exploring their options, with many reportedly starting to look at playing in European leagues. Deron Williams, superstar PG for the Nets is leading the way. Williams is reportedly close to signing a $5M agreement with Turkish team Besiktas, in case the NBA lockout forces missed games. The proposed contract is structured in such a way that when the lockout ends, he can return to the NBA.

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While Williams may have found a home on the other side of the globe, a few players have decided to take on a bit of a different off-season training program in order to stay in shape. Andrew Bynum, C for the Los Angeles Lakers, is “going hard” after partnering with boxing legend Freddy Roach, Manny Pacquiao’s trainer, for two-a-day workouts which include long-distance runs and work inside the ring. Although J.J. Barea would probably say that Bynum’s got pretty good upper body strength going for him already.

One thing is for certain, with the lockout looming, and seemingly no end in sight, the players are going to look for ways to keep themselves busy, whether it’s going to Turkey, stepping in the boxing ring, or doing less well-thought-of activities, like speeding while in possession of narcotics.

After a season that turned in some of the best TV ratings in the league’s history, and a seemingly endless amount of vitriol aimed at the Miami Heat, the NBA’s popularity has never been higher. Now, if the momentum gained over this last season is lost due to a prolonged labor battle, the NBA may not be able to catch lightning in a bottle for a second time.