Columnist Dean Juipe: Fans steadily lose interest in NBA battle

Dean Juipe

Friday, Dec. 18, 1998 | 8:01 a.m.

Seven percent of American sports fans say they're disturbed by the ongoing NBA lockout.

To varying degrees, the other 93 percent simply don't care.

That, folks, is what's known as widespread indifference.

And that 7 figure will drop to 6 and then to 5 and so on, until the league completely falls off the public's radar screen. People just don't have any compassion for either side of a disagreement on how to distribute $2 billion in annual revenue.

Today is No. 171 of the lockout and 318 games have already been lost to a dispute that is now dangerously close to threatening the entire 1998-99 season. The "drop-dead" date as it's called would seem to be near if not imminent, perhaps the first week of January at the latest.

If there's no settlement by then, the league can exchange its NBA initials for DNP (as in a bench warmer's Did Not Play).

As it presently stands, even if an agreement is reached this weekend they say the season couldn't start any earlier than Jan. 22 and it probably would be limited to around 40 or 50 games. The general consensus is that there wouldn't be any point playing a season of fewer than 40 games.

At any rate, time is suddenly crucial although you wouldn't necessarily know it by the actions of commissioner David Stern. He's in lovely Aspen, skiing and not negotiating, although Thursday he broke away to author a letter/plea to the players.

But even if he selects his favorite resort's toughest run, it'll have to seem easier than untangling the mess with the NBA Players' Association. And the potential complications are about to double or quadruple or be increased by pi, as many of the league's 200 free agents are seriously considering the option of playing overseas until the NBA owners come to their senses.

(It is the owners at fault here, given their desire to blunt runaway salary increases by collective bargaining agreement as opposed to personal restraint.)

Then again, if and when there is a settlement there will be chaos; it'll be unavoidable. With two-thirds of the league's players not currently under contract, the ink won't even be dry on the bargaining agreement and teams will be hurriedly looking to sign free agents and rush them into a quick training camp.

Get this: Chicago has only four players under contract. Likewise, Atlanta and Houston. Phoenix and Orlando have only five.

In slightly better shape if there is a season to salvage are Utah, New York and the Los Angeles Lakers, each of which has its five starters under contract.

One of the Lakers' starters, forward Elden Campbell, was in Las Vegas earlier this week and a friend said it was difficult to gauge how he felt. On one hand the current players want to stick to their guns and "do what's right" for those players yet to come, while there's also a sense of urgency (and bills to be paid) that plays into a willingness to surrender.

Campbell didn't appear to be worried either way, stationed as he was at a high-end blackjack table.

So he's getting by and so is the vacationing Stern, and the owners all have deep pockets.

No wonder only 7 percent of the fans give a damn. The negotiations have sputtered, broken off and disbanded several times already, and no one comes across as overly impoverished or unduly concerned.

If they don't come around, eventually that 7 percent will be down to zero.