Superstars silenced as money fight drags on

LeBron James will not make any slam dunks for the Miami Heat this November. Kobe Bryant will make no baskets for the Los Angeles Lakers. Dirk Nowitzki will score no points for the Dallas Mavericks. These superstars, and every other NBA player, have been silenced by the billionaire team owners who sign their paychecks in a lockout that will reach its 124th day on Tuesday, when the NBA season was supposed to have started. Unable to agree on how to divide about $4 billion in annual revenues since the old contract expired and a lockout began on July 1, sides broke off talks on Friday with no new negotiations scheduled. NBA commissioner David Stern has called off 221 games that were scheduled in November and with a month needed between a final deal and the opening tip-off, the first shortened NBA season since 1999 figures to become shorter. Owners claim that only eight of 30 teams made money last season while the other 22 clubs lost a combined $450 million. They seek a hard salary cap and a 50-50 split of basketball-related income. Players, who received 57 percent of such revenues last season, want no salary cap and have said they have done their part by offering to take as little as 52.5 percent of income, a giveback of $1.5 billion over six years. The gap between players and owners amounts to $100 million a year, or $1 billion over the life of the 10-year deal being sought by team owners. Progress that was made on salary cap and luxury tax items in talks was dashed along with hopes of playing a full season of 82 games per team. That ensures missed player paychecks and lost television and ticket revenue for owners and likely hardens positions whenever talks resume. "The next offer will reflect the extraordinary losses that are piling up now," Stern said.  Altogether, NBA players are expected to lose about $350 million for every month of games lost. Owners will feel the pinch as well but some say the losses are less than they would face if the season was played as last year. Owners of successful NBA clubs such as Mark Cuban of Dallas and Jerry Buss of the Lakers are losing money with every missed game but others are avoiding losses and tying to create a less-costly system that might be a moneymaker. Owners based in smaller cities see a chance to impose a system that keeps teams with bigger income from outspending rivals for top talent, such as Miami did when putting together James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh last season. Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis was among the National Hockey League club owners who wiped out the entire 2004-2005 NHL season in order to impose salary cuts. That has fans fearful an entire NBA season might be lost this time, even though it was not until January of 1999 that the NBA's prior lockout ended, setting up a season of 50 games per team from February through April.