Ever been cruising past some dude who's pulled over by a cop and chuckle, "Poor guy" then step on the accelerator? You think it's occurred to any one of the NBA owners or in the ranks of the NBPA that they can't afford to speed towards a work stoppage?

The latest developments have most insiders concluding there will not be NBA games come October. Charles Barkley said on The Dan Patrick Show he doesn't think there will be a season, "I don't think we are going to play at all next year. Everything is out of whack... These owners are in it for Armageddon." He did preface that by saying he did not have inside information, but he was they guy who correctly called the Grizzlies' series win over Spurs and the Mavericks matchup superiority over the Heat. So, cue the media's doomsday rhetoric. 

Sports fans absorbed all they could stomach in the spring with the NFL lockout, but what started as high-stake school-yard bickering has blessedly morphed into campfire singing as the sides in NFL negotiations have struck a harmonious tone. In between then and now are some important lessons those handling the NBA talks can learn from.

1) Yes, fans understand the economy has tightened owners' belts, but nobody cares. In the NBA, reportedly 22 of 30 teams are losing money. Still, nobody cares. The climate is not as drastic in football, but as NFL owners found, the more they tried to reason or illustrate the financial constraints, the more they were reminded of the growing unemployment and hardship facing fans spending the dough to keep their teams going. NBA owners can speak in terms of change, but not in terms of dollars. The guy filling out his 5,000th job application will understand the need for change, not be sympathetic to an owner losing money.  

2) Skip the back-and-forth rhetoric pointing fingers. All of us US Americans (even the ones without maps) are sick of being treated like we're a bunch of dull-brained lemmings content to pick sides and moralize a business deal. The NFL labor talks have taught us that both sides need to give a little or else the fans pay a lot. Making the divide between both sides bigger, just makes both sides look like bigger fill-in-the-blanks.   

3) Stay out of the courts. Look, I like Gabe Feldman, kind of a lot. But if I have to hear one more break down of legalese in simplistic terms, I'm going to storm the nearest law school and start spouting Lombardi's favorite play calls from a megaphone to see how they like it. With the exception of Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who is new to the bench and likely looking for a little spotlight, the judges presiding over the NFL's cases have intimated the courts don't want these cases. The NBA needs to take their cue from the 8th Circuit. Of course, as Feldmen points out, depending on where potential filings occur, the courts could be more player friendly or more owner friendly, and that could play into strategy for either side, but new deals don't come out of court, they come out of negotiations. 

Although the NBPA declined to counter the owners' latest offer because they said they were too far apart, Suns player rep Jared Dudley tweeter (@jareddudley619) "There should be a season... With all the economic problems in this country no one wants to hear about NFL/NBA lockout."  Here's hoping his voice of reason can resonate through each league and labor peace can be found. 

Photo: Minimalistphotography101.com; Creative Commons 2.0