Where are the players now?

    The National Basketball Association lockout has been going on for months, giving the players a lot of free time. Both the players and the coaches want more money, and neither of them seem like they are going to budge. With two weeks cut off from the season, and probably more coming, the big question still remains: What are the players going to do now? 
   Some of the players are starting to follow up with their talk and go overseas. Former Utah Jazz point gaurd Deron Williams is now playing for the Besiktas in Turkey. Tony Parker left to go play for his home team, ASVEL Villeurbanne, in France for minimum wage. Other big stars, such as Kobe Bryant, are still debating leaving, though. He wants to go play for Virtus Bologna in Italy.
    "Italy is my home. It's where my dream of playing in the NBA started. This is where I learned the fundamentals, learned to shoot, to pass and to [move] without the ball… all things that when I came back to America, the players my age didn't know how to do because they were only thinking about jumping and dunking," says Bryant. They have stopped all the flashy attempts to lure him, and it is just the deals now. “Help us Obi-Wan Kobe… you are our only hope,” writes a fan to Suite 101.

    Some players are thinking of trying other sports as well. LeBron James tweeted, "When is the deadline for a team to sign a free agent [in the National Football League]?" James was a wide receiver from the pee wee leagues to high school. After practicing once, he tweeted again, this time saying, "Just got done practicing with the St.V Varsity football team, full pads and all. Felt great being back on the field. Should I?" Another player that is looking to play a different sport is Kobe Bryant. Bryant was looking at playing baseball in the Arizona Fall Leagues.

    The majority of the players, especially the rookies, are just waiting it out. They want the deals to be completed so they can go back and play on their teams for the NBA, not anywhere else. Malcom Lee, a Minnesotta Timberwolves rookie, says, "It's the same life [as college]. No income checks are coming in, none of that good stuff that comes with being in the NBA."  

Fans React to Lockout

NBA players and owners have been in a debate about money, and it has caused a shutdown of the NBA. There is little to believe that the lockout will be resolved anytime soon. "I feel like [the owners] aren't helping us out, they're not trying [to] meet us halfway with it,” complained Kevin Durant in an ESPN interview. Yet the owners and players fail to realize that there will not be any money to distribute if fans stop going to games.

Players have been preaching about their sacrifices to help the dispute come to a quicker resolve. But are the players the only ones that are sacrificing? With two weeks of the season canceled due to the lockout, the fans have lost interest in watching. This may last as long as Christmas, so the fans will leave the routine of watching the basketball game and find something else to spend time.

There were already fans losing interest in 2009-2010. The attendance was recovering in the 2010-2011 season, but this lockout may have been the last straw for fans. The time taken from the season has only angered the public. Basketball fan David Boykin expressed his frustration in a FOX Sports article, “It seems almost like a wasted effort.” This fight over the rich getting richer has irritated once loyal followers of the NBA.

If the lockout comes to a resolution, will there still be fans waiting to watch the games?