LeBron James: Lockout Could Be Coming

All sports fans have read about the NFL's impending lock-out. Well, apparently LeBron James was worried that the NBA's negotiations weren't going well, so he went to a session. He didn't come out any more pleased.

"It does. It does,'' the Miami Heat star said Saturday when asked if it concerns him that NBA owners haven't changed their proposal at all in one year since the one that was immediately rejected during last February's All-Star Weekend in Dallas.

Still, James is trying to stay as optimistic as he can even though NBA commissioner David Stern said there's a "huge gap'' between the players and owners. With the CBA expiring June 30 and many believing there then will be a lockout, James was among a number of NBA stars to take part in a Friday negotiating session in Beverly Hills, Calif., and was said to have been a very active participant.

"That doesn't mean a month or two months from now that we can't get something resolved,'' James said of the hard line that has been presented by the owners, which includes a significant reduction of salaries. "We definitely don't want to have something that's stale. But, at the same time, this is a huge summer. This is a huge moment for the NBA for our players and for our owners. So you just don't want to jump the gun on something this huge.''

Nobody expects either side to do that. In fact, James admitted his feeling was 50-50 when asked if there even will be an NBA season in 2011-12.

"With my gut feeling, I have, I'm kind of split in half,'' said James, speaking after practice in preparation for Sunday's All-Star Game at the Staples Center in which he will start at forward for the East. "One half says yes, one half says no. I couldn't imagine us going into the fall without work. But it happened in (1998-99), and I knew basketball enough to it was like, 'What's going on? Why are there no NBA games on?'''

Now, why post this here? Well, for one, we're talking labor a lot lately, and perhaps the next high-profile labor battle after the one playing out in Wisconsin, Ohio, Tennessee and others will be played out between the millionaire players and hundreds of millionaires/billionaires who own their teams. This battle won't matter for LeBron- he's made money and will make more, he's relatively young. It won't matter for Kobe, or any other star in the league, kind of like the NFL situation won't matter for Manning and Brady. Most professional athletes don't play five years, and many, many of them don't make multi-millions each year, a good portion not even making a million. For them, this is life-or-death, so it is always helpful when star players like James (of whom I'm no fan), involve themselves in negotiations, because they are the leverage the players' union has. The outcome of this may have no major impact on labor strength in the United States, but for now, who knows?