Final Paper
2011 NBA Lockout
BA-208-01
Instructor April Phillips
At the very beginning of the term when I found out that we would have an assignment that would last the entire term I cringed. However as I kept reading about the assignment I automatically thought about the 2011 NBA lockout. When I chose this topic I did not know a lot about how the NBA (National Basketball Association) and NBPA (National Basketball Players Association) functioned as a whole. I do know about basketball but this labor dispute had really nothing to do with basketball the game but everything to do with basketball the business. I had never thought of the NBA as a business before. Picking this dispute gave me a chance to dive into information and research on how the business side of things went. I also knew I would learn many new things as this term went on. The NBA lockout began on July 1st, 2011 between the NBPA and NBA regarding the CBA. The NBPA union represents the players in the NBA. It was founded in 1954 making it the oldest of the four major United States sports leagues to have a union. Unfortunately, they were not recognized by NBA team owners until 1964. The NBA was found in New York City on June 6th, 1946 and was called the Basketball Association of America. They changed the name to Nation Basketball Association on August 3rd, 1949 after merging with their rival National Basketball League. The BAA was founded by the owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the NE and Midwestern United States and Canada. The NBA recognizes the first official game to have been played on November 1st, 1946 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The NBA started with 11 teams and now currently has 30 teams all together. 29 of those teams are within the United States and 1 team is in Canada. Bob Cousy was the player who started the NBPA by writing a letter to each of the leagues teams. All but one responded positively. After receiving the letters back Cousy went to the NBA
Bibliography: New York: Ducham, 2010. Print.