NBA Lockout Impacts Escort Service Industry

The NBA lockout has struck again. We've all read, I've even written, about the stories of all the individuals (besides players and owners) turned upside down by the NBA lockout - arena workers, team support staff, the media...

We've forgotten the escorts.

There appears to be a 30% decline in the industry, where there are clients who charge $400-4,000 an hour depending on the... woman.

Can we all just say this lockout has gone too far?

Kevin Love Goes Cold Turkey

Kevin Love turned down Turkey, informing the Istanbul-based club that he will not be joining the team. Love did say that playing abroad while the lockout carries on is still a vital option.

Had Kevin Love decided to play in Turkey, where I will be travelling to this Jterm, he would have teamed up with New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams.

The trend of NBA stars playing abroad seems to be increasing as the lockout continues without an end in sight. Don't be surprised if you are following European basketball this year...

Ricky Rubio Keeps Busy During Lockout

Ricky Rubio is using the lockout time to enjoy some of the aspects of the Golden State. Rubio, six thousand miles from home, has prepped in Los Angeles for the new league by scrimmaging with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Rubio has also made time to enjoy the city's night life.

He arrived in California last month to train twice a day and to play pickup ball with other athletes he will soon (fingers crossed) call opponents.

Rubio has worked with renowned NBA trainer Joe Abunassar and practiced daily with a rotating lineup of players such as Garnett, Pierce, Danny Granger, Joakim Noah, Shawn Marion, Nick Young and many others.

Timberwolves vs Hawks TONIGHT... And then there was the lockout

Yesterday was supposed to be the debut night for Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams, the 2009 and 2011 first round draft picks. Rick Adelman would have coached his first game with the Wolves, showcasing his veteran experience. Opening night would have held a lot for the Minnesota Timberwolves... too bad the lockout is still going on.

Lockout: League Will Cancel At Least 2 More Weeks

More bad news. The NBA will be cancelling at least two more weeks of its season. With talks broken off between the two sides, and the gap seemingly ever-increasing, the cancellations are expected to total at least 102 more games , through November 28.

No further talks are on the schedules.

The first cancellations came on October 10, cancelling all the games between Nov 1 through Nov 14, totalling 100 games.

Beasley Crosses a Line: NBA Negotiations are 'Kind of Retarded'

Michael 'Be Easy' Beasley has gotten himself into trouble yet again. So far he has gone through a marijuana bust, the 'mushing' of a heckling fan's face, and the failure of his "All-Star Classic" and now this.

"Fighting over 3 percent, that's kind of retarded to me, but it is what it is. We'll come to an agreement." Oh boy.

This isn't the first time we've had memorable quotes from players regarding the lockout. Perhaps the inactivity is making them stir crazy. Who knows? What I do know is that, because Be Easy can't even hold down a shoe deal (getting recently dumped by Adidas) he should probably stick to organizing tournaments in the hopes that the big name players he signs on actually show up.

David GRINCH Stern

Happy Holidays! My gift to you: no Christmas games?

While David Stern didn't follow through on his threat to cancel Christmas games if talks were not resolved by Tuesday, it's becoming pretty obvious that we won't be watching basketball when the holidays roll around.

What a Grinch.

Christmas games are still on at the moment, but you can expect in the near future for the games to be axed. Both sides are growing frustrated, and the players aren't responding to minor slaps on the wrist.

It is clear to me that the league needs the players for more than the players need the league. Why don't the owners see it that way? Without players, all owners are is expensive suits.

The NBA Lockout and More Bad News

The lockout is beyond bad news... almost beyond words.

Because there hasn't been much for Timberwolves-specific news lately, I have been updating you on the NBA lockout. Well, I'm hear to deliver more bad news. The NBA has cancelled the first two weeks of the regular season, with more cacellations seeming inevitable.

The league has now progressed to the fourth month of the lockout; a lockout that could potentially alter the entire 2011-2012 season.

With every missed game, the NBA loses ground. From laid-off NBA staffers to arena employees that go without work, and the NBA looks like the bad guy (true or not? that is your call). The point is there are people besides the players that rely on the game for their livelihood who are now going without work.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the middle class is always on the sidelines of these dilemmas, yet are always the most drastically affected. You can't tell me that the players and owners won't be fine if there is no season. These guys are millionaires and billionaires. The stadium crew, the concession workers, the blue-collar guys? Will they be fine after no work for a year? Doubt it.

Not to mention the resentful fans. In every previous lockout, apologies by players and owners weren't enough; it took a couple seasons for the sport to compensate for the setback caused by the lockout.

We as fans are stuck, unhappily, and waiting out this whole ordeal. Thanks a lot, NBA.

Hey Lockout... What About the Other Workers?

Kobe Bryant may ride out the NBA lockout overseas in Italy. Others that depend on the existence of the league may not be so lucky...

If the lockout persists and more than just the preseason is cancelled, you're talking about lost jobs and collateral economic damages. The loss of games will mean loss of jobs for waitresses, bartenders, hotel workers and others who count on the NBA season for their paychecks.

Players and owners will be alright, but will everyone else?

More Lockout News...

When the NFL was in potential-lockout mode, it was all anyone could talk about. Fans were staying updated on free agents, rookies and the daily negotiations. There were news posts everyday and an endless stream of questions signaling fans couldn't get enough information.

The NBA lockout? Not so much.

What's the deal? It appears fans don't care so much about the NBA lockout and that they would rather check their football fantasy draft instead. Are people 'over' the NBA or is it just the frustration of standstill after standstill and the NBA just happens to be the most recent in a long stream? Very few people care about the lockout.

I think there exists a combination of both a lack of interest and a surplus of disgust. Owners and players need to be careful and realize with the economy and so many other options to steal away a fan's disposable income, that they don't think it will always 'just work out'.

What do you think? Give me your thoughts! I would love to hear them.

NBA Lockout Deadline Fast Approaching

Training camps are set to open October 2nd. The preseason game about a week after that.

The last time the NBA had a lockout was for the 1998-1999 season... back when Dr. Jack Kevorkian was found guilty of second-degree murder, Internet Explorer version 5 was released, Y2K was a huge problem and bluetooth was announced.

How did that lockout work?

The basic agreement was reached on January 6th and was finalized later that month on the 20th. At that point the lockout officially ended. Training camps opened and negotiations with free agency players began, even the pre-season games followed within the week. The 50-game regular season started on February 5.

There was 30 days between the agreement and the beginning of the regular season. This season is set to start on November 2. To keep the timeline, we would need to get everything in order by October 2.

Can it happen? What are your thoughts?

NBA Lockout Conforms to 2011's Year of Sports

Lockout 3.0

NFL. Congress. NBA. It appears that this is the year of stalemates as the negotiations between the NBA and NBPA have come to a halt.

The parties have not scheduled any further bargaining sessions at this point and there appears to be no end to the lockout in sight. With training camps set to begin on October 3rd, it would not be out of the question for the camps to be cancelled. As common with avalanches and life in general, one thing often leads to another. As soon as the training camps are cancelled, don't be surprised when one side or the other broaches the subject of cancelling the entire regular season.

Hot topics for the negotiations include the decertification of the players' union. If the union is decertified, the players would be able to file antitrust lawsuits against the league; however, other results of such an action remain uncertain.

Cancellation, another hot button issue, would result in... no season. I seriously don't want it to come to that. Do you? What are your thoughts?

David Stern Discusses Lockout With Bill Simmons

The B.S. Report is probably my favorite radio show. Bill Simmons is among one of the finest sports writers in the world and his radio is show is probably the most entertaining sports talk radio you're going to find. He asks all the tough questions, he's smart, and he's hilarious.

Recently, he interviewed David Stern on his radio show about the NBA Lockout. I thought it was a really good interview that helped me understand the lockout a little bit better. Simmons asks all the right questions and you can feel the tension from Stern when he is pressed for answers. I would definitely recommend people to listen to this if they want a better understanding of the lockout. You can listen to the podcast for free on iTunes. Search B.S. Report and you can download the David Stern podcast for free.

My favorite part of the interview is when Simmons asks Stern about why they never made a counter offer in the negotiations. Simmons makes a very valid point that in order to negotiate, both sides need to make an offer. You can totally tell that Stern is flustered when he tries to answer this question.

Minnesota Timberwolves Interview Rick Adelman by Phone

Former Houston Rocket's head coach Rick Adelman was interviewed by Minnesota Timberwolve's head of basketball operations David Kahn over the phone last weekend.

This shows that Rick Adelman has at least some interest in the head coaching vacancy left by Kurt Rambis. If the talks are going to get more serious, he will likely have to meet with David Kahn and owner Glen Taylor in a face to face meeting.

I'm personally doubting we are able to hire Adelman. Although he has ties to Kevin Love (his son played high school basketball with him) and is a huge fan of the Wolve's power forward, I just can't see him wanting to coach this young of a team. He would be great for the Wolves, but I have the feeling he wants one last chance at coaching a contender and getting an NBA title. Unless the Wolves are able to blow him away with money, I really can't see this one happening.

Kevin Love to Play Volleyball During NBA Lockout

Kevin Love will not be spending his time during the NBA lockout in Europe like NBA superstar Deron Williams. Love will spend his time at the beach. No he won't be sitting in the sun, making smiley faces out of sun tan lotion his belly, or picking up chicks. He will be playing on the professional beach volleyball tour. He's going to play in the Manhattan Beach Open from August 26-28. Love said he hopes to make it through at least the first day of the tournament.

I'm okay with Love playing beach volleyball for a little bit. First of all, I think he will be a very good beach volleyball player. He has unbelievable anticipation skills and he has very soft hands. Both should help him tremendously as a volleyball player.

I hope that he gets on the court with his teammates and works to improve during the lockout. I think it would be great if Love could be like Drew Brees and organize full team workouts just like the Saints did during the NFL lockout. That would be a feel-good story for the franchise and would energize the fan base. It would go a long way in proving to the fans that this team is committed to winning.

The Lockout and the Minnesota Timberwolves

Seriously, the Wolves have some exciting things going on and the lockout takes place. This is a HUGE blow to the Minnesota Timberwolves. For the first time in quite some time, people might actually want to come to the Target Center and watch this team. Derrick Williams is a really cool player who a lot of people want to see and this team is another year older, which could be really good for them.

The biggest reason this is a crushing blow for the Wolves is that Ricky Rubio is coming to town and that is a huge attraction. Not only does that make the Timberwolves a local attraction, he makes them a national attraction. Everyone wants to see this kid play, but there is no way of seeing him if there aren't any games being played.

This was the last thing this team needed. If the lockout continues, the NBA will lose a lot of casual fans and people will forget all about the buzz and lure of Ricky Rubio and this young wolves team. Hopefully they figure this one out fast, or the Wolves will seriously pay for it.

NBA Locks Out Its Players on July 1st What it Means for Wolves

The NBA locked out its players last night and it looks like we might be in for a long lock out. David Stern spoke to the media yesterday after negotiations broke off yesterday afternoon. He said that he is worried about the damage that this can do to the league, but believes that the system is extremely broken.

The players love the system and don't want it to change at all. They have an average salary of 5 million dollars and have the power to change teams whenever they want. They are also getting 57% of the revenue.

The reason this is going to take so long is because they are so far apart on these issues. The players want to continue receiving 57% of the revenue, while the owners want it completely flipped so that they are the ones receiving 60% of the revenue. They also want a harder salary cap with less guaranteed contracts so that they aren't wasting money.

Everyone knows that the owners aren't making money so the owners have a lot to gain from this. 22 of the 30 teams are profitable and you can bet the Wolves are one of the teams.

Who to root for Wolves fans? Root for the owners here. They're trying to make a harder cap so that teams like the Mavericks can't just out spend the smaller teams. They want to make the league more competitive so that each team feels like it has a chance to win a title, something the Wolves aren't feeling at all. Hopefully they share the revenue more evenly among teams and have a harder cap to stop these super teams from forming. That's how the Wolves can benefit from this.