NEW YORK -- Parting amicably but most definitely parting, NBA owners and players exited a final three-hour bargaining session Thursday, walked through a hotel lobby and headed directly into the uncertainty of the league's first labor lockout in 13 years.
Do not pass "Go?" Do not collect another $2.17 billion in player compensation and $4.2 billion in total league revenues if the 2011-12 NBA season is jeopardized?
That's the question the two sides ultimately will answer, based on how soon -- or not soon -- they reach an agreement to play basketball and conduct business again once the lockout triggered at 12:01 a.m. ET Friday.
Hammer out a deal in the next two or even three months? Lockout jail might feel like an ankle-bracelet stay at one of those tennis-and-shuffleboard Club Feds. Spend five, six or (uh oh) seven months mostly staring across the great divide in their positions? Everyone involved -- players, owners, folks who make more modest livings from the sport, fans -- could be looking at hard time. For a long time.
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