NBA and players to meet plus Sixers sale official

Joshua Harris

We haven't reported much about the NBA lockout, because quite honestly, its football season and we really don't pay attention to hoops until after the first of the year.

For those who don't know: The NBA and the NBA Players Association are in the midst of a serious labor disagreement. The league, realizing that player salaries are completely out of control is trying to get it under control.

They've cancelled the preseason and the first 2 weeks of the regular season. Both sides are meeting today (Tuesday) though they've not been close on negotiations. NBA commissioner David Stern is quoted as saying if they didn't get a deal done today (not likely), there won't be any NBA Basketball until at least Christmas.

In the meantime, the league approved the sale of the Philadelphia 76ers to a group led by billionaire Joshua Harris. That ownership group will be introduced today (Tuesday).

Read more from Philly.com RIGHT HERE

Forgive the op-ed here but: The NBA is right, salaries in the NBA are nothing short of ludicrous. Paying Joe Johnson $127 million for 6 years to play for the Hawks. Why? That is completely insane. And the prime example of why there needs to be restraint.

Don't get me wrong, the fact that salaries like that are being paid is not the players fault. If an owner walked up to you and offered you that much money to work for him, what would you say?

The owners had the ability to keep salaries under control and didn't. And now they are losing money, in part because if you are paying $100 million a season in salaries, it's probably not easy to make money. We get that.

So in the meantime, we get the NBA guys on barnstorming tours and playing overseas. And sure, there are and will be people that miss the games. Heck, I'll miss the games. But not enough to feel any empathy for either side in this silly dispute. One that the owners, will inevitably win.