Economic Crisis Reaches Doorstep of NBA Fans

No one really likes to talk or think about the economy. It's boring, confusing, and until that thing happens to you, can remains remarkably abstract. Then there's that moment where it really rips into your life, you realized you're effed, and all of a sudden, you realize why it's supposedly the number one issue in this year's election (even if no one understands it beyond their own front door).

With this passage from Ken Berger, I think I just reached that god-awful place:

But one team executive told Newsday yesterday that owners are worried about the economic downturn and might be inclined to let the current collective-bargaining agreement with the NBA Players Association lapse after the 2010-11 season rather than extend it one more year. That executive said only "five to seven" NBA teams are profitable and raised the possibility of a lockout in 2011 if teams face more strain than Stern predicted. "You're going to have owners pushing for a better deal," said the executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This is one of the years the NBA is worried that overall revenues may be a little bit down."

Did you understand that in its entirety? Me neither. Do you like the NBA? I do. And I can tell you that this paragraph does not bode well for this league. From USA Today, here's Stern's aforementioned predictions:

"We're pretty optimistic this will be a season that will be better in our industry than it will be for others." He said he had no concern whatsoever that some clubs might be overleveraged and in potential trouble: "Our franchises are subject to debt limitations."

When teams are worried, and a large part of the Commish's optimism banks on the possibility that "some [teams] might add a Coke and a hot dog," I'm inclined to think he's trying to spin things. And in the end, when you've got the owners freaking out, and Stern allaying public fears with hot dogs, you've got tension. As someone on the outside looking in, this looks to me like a line in the sand beginning to come into focus. That Dow thing, now it's personal.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.