If the lockout persists...

This is going to be a LONG fall/winter for me without NBA basketball…
Yes, I know I will have NCAA ball from November through the beginning of April, but that is just not the same to me…

Know who ELSE is going to miss those millionaires running up and down the court?
TNT/TBS, ESPN/ABC and NBATV are all going to be HURT for the missing content.

I thought to myself about what WOULD they put in the slots that are at this moment still allotted for the televising of NBA games this coming season if there happens to be no (or a shortened) season?

This weekend, NBATV showed some “Hardwood Classics” games from years past, and the younger generation may have gotten to see a time where teams like Phoenix, Indiana, Portland and the New York Knicks all pretended to be credible threats to win an NBA championship. Yes, it was all pretending because of that Michael Jordan guy, and Hakeem Olajuwon while MJ went to pretend to be a baseball player to avoid suspension over gambling.

[Phlip note – yes, I believe that theory]

Anyway, while watching a couple of old games, it hit me…

If there are no NEW games being played, then perhaps they should fill television spots with PREVIOUS games between the teams in question! Some things to keep in mind, though, are that not all teams are where they were, and one team didn’t even exist before, so we can only go back so far for some teams. This would be fun when, say, the New Orleans Hornets play against the OKC Thunder and the game they show is one between the CHARLOTTE Hornets and Seattle Supersonics.

I am not sure how the likeness rights for this would go, or the logistics of whether or not they would have to pay the locked out players, but this could be quite interesting as a stop-gap between not having basketball and having basketball to watch.
This would be completely SCREWED when the playoffs come, but I am more than willing to cross that bridge if I get to it, and I am hoping to not have to.

I know that this is highly unlikely to take place, even if there is not an NBA season this year but that doesn’t stop this from being an interesting idea in the least. Either way, we have 5 weeks until the scheduled start of the season and no end to this nonsense in sight…

Can we PLEASE end this lockout nonsense?