Sure, NBA fans anticipated heated CBA meetings throughout the summer, but like the NFL's similar situation, they expected it to come to an end before the season's scheduled tip-off.
Summer leagues, mini camps, preseason and regular season games have been missed already through mid-November, and unfortunately more is yet to come.
There is still a glimmer of hope for some Christmas Day action between the league's top squads, but with every passing frustrated comment from David Stern and Derek Fisher the season gets shorter and shorter, and it becomes more and more unlikely for the lockout to be resolved.
Recent optimism from sources closest to the situation has given NBA fans some hope, but the stubbornness on both sides has been quick to dash those promising revelations.
The latest talk out of the meetings suggest that the 50-50 basketball-related income share is likely to be agreed on, but other concerns could be snagging the deal up, potentially for much longer.
Either way the consistent and tiring images of millionaires in suits walking in and out of high-end luxury cars and into five-star hotels to discuss how the billions should be shared have led us to believe only one thing.
This lockout has nothing to do with the fans, regardless of how much these player reps love the game.
It's not about loving the game, otherwise they would be playing right now.
The owners are too determined to make money, which is and should be the goal of owning something, as long as winning is taken into consideration.
The players are too proud to be dictated to, which is respectable but counterproductive to fans watching NBA basketball this winter.
The bottom line is that no one will ever feel sorry for a man who gets paid millions to ball, nor an owner who makes millions to own a team of ballers.
This lockout is a lose-lose situation for fans, and regardless of whether a deal is struck in the coming days, weeks or months, the owners and players have combined to become the league's biggest downfall.
