NBA Headed to MLB-like Shutdown?

NBA collective bargaining agreement could expire after next season.

The ongoing MLB lockout has raised questions about which other sports leagues could face a similar fate. 

During a recent appearance on NBA on ESPN, Adrian Wojnarowski explained it's "not even close" for the NBA to face a labor issue similar to the MLB's current situation. The adversarial relationship between the MLB and MLBPA was highlighted as a critical contrast between the two cases. 

"Listen, major league baseball and even football to an extent; there was such an adversarial relationship between the union and the league," Wojnarowski said. "It's very different in the NBA."

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There's been a sense of cohesion from the league and the player's association in recent years. When the NBA faced the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, both sides came to a compromise and played out the remainder of the 2019-20 season. 

"Just look at since the pandemic started. The fact that you have the NBA and the player's association in constant negotiations for a couple of years, they got a bubble done, they had to reduce salaries based on revenue," Wojnarowski said. "They got to deals, all the protocols. Baseball struggled with a great deal of that."

There is the option for the NBA and NBPA to agree end the current CBA after the 2022-23 season. However, both sides remain interested in avoiding a potential lockout. 

"The deal's through 2023-24, but there's a mutual opt-out in the NBA and the players association this December," Wojnarowski said. "I think they would love to have a deal in place by then."

There are real concerns with the current CBA that could be ironed out in negotiations. Star players forcing trades while still under contract (Paul George, James Harden) and players on supermax deals either not playing or being liabilities (Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving) are among the issues going forward for owners like Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks to consider.