The lockout drama continued.
It was October.
Yu Fei's trip to China was drawing to a close, and in the United States, the NBA, labor and management had held over 30 hours of meetings in the last three days.
After three days of negotiations that failed to bridge what the league called "significant differences on almost all issues," NBA Commissioner David Stern cancelled the first two weeks of the 2010-11 regular season on Monday night.
For most, it was an extension of the lockout, but for industry insiders, the lockout was causing real damage.
If the 2007 Donaghy scandal marked the nadir of the league's commercial image in the post-Jordan era, then the just-concluded season was a moment of professional basketball's return to its peak.
The empire battle between the Supersonics and the Lakers created a viewership record, and the six-year, $7.5 billion television broadcast agreement set to take effect in the new season would further drive development.
