The sight of commissioner David Stern has come to anger frustrated fans. (Wikimedia Commons)

As billionaires battle millionaires, the fans can't help but wonder--does anyone even care about us?

The dispute has managed to provide numerous questions to not only the fans, but to what defines the sport as well.  

What is to become of the game as we know it?  

It only appears that the competitive edge we have all come to know and love is moving on for a different type of court. 

Though the owners have gone through a series of frustrating debacles that seem to never cease, it’s the fans that they should be concerned about. Fans are the driving force behind the teams and their performance.   

During this time of struggle between opposing sides, people have been wondering how the variety of viewpoints have managed to play a part of the decision process. Ex-players such as Michael Jordan now are standing on what seems to be two sides at once. 

Known as one of the greatest players in the game of all time, if not the greatest, Jordan has to consider the opposing views of his friends and his ownership at a nonbiased level.

There have been opinions all across the board regarding the ordeal and what is to become of the NBA in the near future. Many thought the end was near when October 4th rolled around, but unfortunately things took a turn for the worse. 

Some spectators look back at the 1998 season and how it managed to remain at a standstill until the beginning of February in 1999. This was the NBA’s third lockout in history and had also dealt with the league’s salary cap and the salaries of individual players.  

It was an instance that many look to as model of hope for what is yet to come.    

Not all is lost with this lockout, however. 

The industry of private training has recently been profiting tremendously. With no team facilities at their disposal, players are finding the need to search for alternative ways to stay in pivotal shape.  

Many causes are also taking advantage of the opportunity by creating grassroots projects, where players can promote the product and boost the image that they must maintain as a professional athlete in a positive light.  

As arguments continue to be dished out between the owners and the players, fans manage to hold on to one consistent theory: focus not on the money, but rather the game itself.  

To the fans, the owners and players alike are being greedy when it comes to finalizing a deal.  For most, they don’t care so much about the argument itself, but rather how it will affect the game they love.  

To see the conflict of interests between both sides has become disheartening and flat out ridiculous among fans all across the country.  

It was once seen as a sport with passion as a driving force rather than one of monetary value.  And now that things appear to be at a standstill, fans can only hope that the game that fabricates legends and remarkable moments of athletic ability is returned to its original glory. 

Let the season start already! 

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