There has been an ongoing lockout in the NBA that started on July 1, 2011, and shows no signs of abating yet. Recent reports have made it clear that there is a distinct possibility of the lockout lasting for the entirety of the current NBA season. This happens to be the fourth instance of a lockout in NBA history, and is the first in nearly 15 years. The disputes that lead to an entire players’ association being on strike can have major ramifications on the mental side of a basketball player’s game.
The current lockout is a result of the expiration of a six year old ‘collective bargaining agreement on the 30th of June 2011. The NBA owners claim that there are huge losses occurring in the league, and there is a need to be stricter financial controls imposed on teams and players in general. The proposal was to reduce players’ wages by nearly half (40%, to be exact), and to impose a strict salary cap of $45 million per team. This was unequivocally opposed by the players’ union, despite virtually every single NBA team recording losses over the previous season.
Both parties refused to budge even slightly, and there was plenty of bad blood in the negotiations. Eventually, the players’ union did agree to the salary cut, but on the condition that the team owners give way to the salary cap provision. This was opposed by team owners too, as there was a unanimous decision that all teams needed a level playing ground, especially after posting huge losses over the last few years. As a result, the negotiations collapsed indefinitely. This meant that the players were banned from NBA training facilities, personnel and staff.
Basketball psychology dictates that a player needs to be playing week in, week out, to be in a truly match fit condition. However, with the players’ association being on strike, there is a great risk of a severely negative effect on player’s mental side, because in basketball, mental toughness is crucial. The application of sports psychology for basketball can help a player to overcome the issues of a lack of playing time, income and, eventually, resuming to play.
As a mental game basketball can be a huge challenge, and if there are other distractions going on and occupying a player’s mind, there are bound to be negative effects in both the short and long term for a player’s innate basketball psychology. Sports psychology for basketball can be a pseudo coping mechanism for players to deal with being completely cut off from their source of livelihood. At the current rate, there will be no NBA matches in the near future, and if basketball players lose their motivation, both the players and the league as a whole will stand to suffer. Being a mental game, basketball demands a lot of dedication and concerted effort for a player to be successful. A player needs to bring up all the reserves of his basketball mental toughness to get through a phase as tough as a lockout.
