Kobe Bryant Believes NBA Owners Will Try To Force Lockout

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers believes NBA owners will try to force a lockout before the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.

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Although the NBA and team officials are trying their best to paint a much cleaner picture, many NBA players believe they’re headed for a lockout come the 2016-17 season. That list includes Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers who’ve been very vocal regarding the NBA’s new television deal which will pay the league nearly $25 billion dollars over nine years.

Bryant ripped the NBA and team owners on social media recently and took another swipe on Tuesday suggesting he believes owners will attempt to create a lockout.

“I’m sure they’ll try to lock us out again and try to harden the cap even more,” Bryant stated.

During a lockout the side which often takes the most grief is the players considering they’re the ones ‘fighting’ for their rights, even though the battle is being waged on both sides. Still, as we’ve seen in the past fans often become upset with players for not getting back on the field/court in a timely manner which is one of the reasons as to why Kobe Bryant believes team owners are open to potential lockout.

The bigger question remains is how badly would a lockout hurt the NBA? That likely depends on how much action is missed. The NBA is no stranger to having a lockout though for the most part, they’ve been able to have somewhat small work stoppages unlike other leagues who have had extended downtime during their lockout.

We’ve seen the damage a lockout can do to a sport after Major League Baseball went on strike in 1994-1995 and how long it took the sport to recover. The NBA certainly doesn’t want to have a similar scenario on their hand so you’d hope any potential lockout would be nothing more than a few month stint in the offseason. The players and owners are playing with fire though anytime a lockout is declared.

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