For the first time in thirteen years, the National Basketball Association will cease operations due to a work stoppage.
The NBA will begin a lockout of its players beginning at 12:01 AM ET Friday morning, after the league’s owners and the NBA Players Association were unable to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement.
This is the first time since 1998-99 that the NBA has experienced a work stoppage. The 1998-99 NBA lockout remains the only work stoppage in league history to result in the cancellation of games.
The league also locked out players in 1995 and 1996. A lockout was barely avoided in 2005.
With the National Football League already in the midst of a lockout, two of the four major North American pro sports leagues have gone dark due to labor strife. The last time that happened was in 1994-95, when the Major League Baseball strike and National Hockey League lockout overlapped for just over three months.
Of note, the NBA did not cancel the first two weeks of the 1998-99 NBA season until October 13, 1998, 22 days before the scheduled November 3 start of the season. The league canceled NBC’s Christmas Day doubleheader on November 23, and the 1999 NBA All-Star Game from Philadelphia on December 8.
(NBA press release from NBA.com; additional information from NBA.com)
