On July 1, 1998, NBA owners—tired of the petulance displayed by players of the Bill Simmons-titled "too much too soon" era—began a lockout that lasted 204 days and cut the 1998-1999 season nearly in half.
The owners' reasoning behind locking out the players, besides the aforementioned petulance, was that the previous collective bargaining agreement so heavily favored the players that owners were losing money hand over foot.
While you may roll your eyes regarding the notion that multi-billionaires were willingly throwing away money on a yearly basis, the owners were wholly in the right regarding their claim that player salaries had overtaken league revenue. (In 1998, player salaries accounted for 57 percent of basketball related income—a figure nine percent greater than what the previous collective bargaining agreement called for.)
In addition, there were no true individual player contract caps or any real structure regarding rookie salaries similar to ones we see today.
Because of that, and the NBPA's (National Basketball Players Association) notion that they should be paid more not less, a lockout was in ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Tyler Conway
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