NBA: All Star Game-Commissioner Silver Press Conference
NBA: All Star Game-Commissioner Silver Press Conference Reuters

Just three years ago, the league, its players and its fans suffered through the dreaded lockout— the version of a work stoppage in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Safe to say, all parties do not want another strike in the league but it could happen as early as 2017, when the current NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expires.

In an interview Sean Deveney of sportingnews.com with Charles Grantham, a former executive director of the NBA union from 1978-1985, the possibility of another lockout is indeed a possibility with varied issues currently haunting the league.

“Ideally, whether labor or management, you begin work on the next negotiation the day after you sign the last agreement,” said Grantham.

“For the players, they have not been able to do that. They still need to find a director, and once they have one, they need to assemble a team and work on a strategy. They’re way behind.”

Grantham is referring to the fact that the NBA players have yet to name their leader or for the position of executive director since Billy Hunter left the position. Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers was assigned as the union president in August of 2013.

“The owners have it right,” shared an anonymous player agent. “They are going to be unified behind Adam Silver, they are not scattered, everyone knows who is in charge there. The players don’t want to do that after what happened with Billy, they want someone who will acquiesce to them. That’s not going to work. Chris Paul is not going to sit across from Adam Silver and win. They need to understand that. They need a skilled, innovative, experienced businessperson at the top of the chain.”

In the same article Denevey prodded Grantham for other issues that could be the cause of a lockout in 2017. This includes the current profit-sharing system and the effect of a new TV deal among others. Read the in-depth analysis of the probable 2017 lock out at Sporting News.

Would there be another lockout in 2017? For the NBA fans, they hope that the NBA owners and the players work out a deal before the current CBA expires.