The NBA lockout is only in its infancy but we are already seeing signs that the NFL didn’t have to deal with, major players threatening to join other leagues. Sure in the there are leagues likes the UFL or Arena Football but you didn’t hear Tom Brady saying he would play indoors if the lockout doesn’t end. Unfortunately that’s exactly what you’re hearing in the NBA. Europe has always had highly competitive leagues that the NBA drafted from and that college grads not drafted went to. Now we are hearing big name players like Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, even Kobe Bryant has been rumored to be heading overseas. The question on everyone’s mind is will this help or hurt the NBA season.

On one hand I can see the owners panicking to get a deal done quickly. This gives the players leverage to get exactly what they want because if they don’t they just go get paid somewhere else. On the other hand the owners could just call the players bluff assuming that European leagues can’t pay the high salaries these players demand. Another thing to think about is the roster sizes; each team only carries 15 players a piece.  For the NBA owners it’s a lot easier to use replacement players when its just 15 guys as opposed to the NFL where they need to replace 53. Add to that the fact that the NBA has an 82 game season, there is a lot less to lose by missing a few games in the NBA than in the NFL. 1 missed game in the NFL would cost over 2 million dollars per team.

All this adds up to a long lockout in the NBA especially since neither side has any plans on meeting at the moment. I think there is a better chance that the NBA misses games than the NFL ever had of missing a game. but most likely the NBA owners and players will late to the last minute and get a deal done just before the season starts just like the NFL.