By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Dec. 9, 1998

Now that everything has been cleaned up in Philadelphia by canceling the 1999 NBA All-Star game -- with Philly now likely to host the extravaganza in 2002 -- it's time for the NBA to take it a step further.

Cancel the rest of the season.

The late

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1999 All-Star Game would have been nothing more than a microcosm of what's left of the NBA season, anyway ... better known as stars on parade.

It has nothing to do with basketball teams, player synergy, good personnel development or coaching. It would be all about giving the ball to the stars and letting them play. Injuries and general malaise would dog all the players, while the crowds in bad markets would be at embarrassingly record lows.

PERHAPS THAT'S WHY ALL WE ARE seeing these days are these so-called "charity games," for the poor players who are receiving only $20,000 a month from licensing over the past two months.

That's the one area in which the owners have maintained an edge over the players during the now 23-week lockout. At least the owners have kept their mouths shut.

However, finally, a couple of high-profile players are taking a new angle. Nick Van Exel and Marcus Camby and some other lesser-known players have decided to sue the NBA, USA Basketball and FIBA for preventing them from playing in Europe during the owner-imposed lockout.

At least now they're getting creative. This Dec. 19 game was organized by agents and star-oriented to get some money for the needy players ($272,000 was the minimum salary last season). Don't you feel real bad for those impoverished guys? This is indicative of how the players are sending a bad message to the public.

The owners are keeping quiet, but commissioner David Stern is having a rough time selling the point that he isn't following the same steps as his former general counsel Gary Bettman when he locked out the NHL players as commissioner. Sure, all players were under contract and training camp had already been completed, but the timetable of that produced play in mid-January via an 11th-hour settlement.

"I've read

'I don't think there is that much hope for the sport itself,' if players and owners can't agree, Stern said. (AP)

with some ... bemusement, I guess, about somehow contrasting our situation to the NHL's situation a few years ago," Stern said during a conference call.

The correlation is obvious. The details are irrelevant. The comparison of squeezing the players to the last moment is the key. And that's why they should cancel the season now. Even if they did settle this within the next three weeks, it will require at least a month to officially sign the deal, appropriate the free agents and have a short training camp. So after they begin in mid-January, there would be around a 50-game season.

MY CONTENTION STILL REMAINS, THE ONLY real excitement could be with a "Sweet 16" style, single-elimination playoff at the end of the year. But that won't happen. That's another reason they should cancel it. But just keep in mind what could happen if they did cancel the season.

A lot of the acrimony would be cleaned up, as would many of the game's internal problems.

First of all, with the expulsion of top-flight officials because of tax evasion over resold airline tickets, the league could restructure the officiating crews, and reconsider the return of those officials rumored to have struck a deal with Stern anyway. The other aspect that has hurt officiating is the move from two-man crews to three. The officials were forced to be sharper than the two-man crews. Puhleez let them play the game.

Also, legalize zone defenses. It will improve the lost art of perimeter shooting and enhance ball movement. The rapidly falling free-throw shooting percentage also requires a look. Again, take a look at what's right with the college game. When there's a foul away from the ball and the team is in the bonus situation, force the player to make the first shot to earn the second.

These are just a couple of ideas to change the game, if for no other reason than to help foster some curiosity. As time progresses, people have continued to become less interested in the return of the NBA. The league knows it and the cancellation of the season probably will occur if a deal isn't struck by Christmas.

THE RAMIFICATIONS ARE ENDLESS AND Stern knows it.

"We understand the fan reaction," he said. "We understand the network reaction. We understand sponsor reaction and we understand licensee reaction. Those are our businesses and we are dealing with those on an ongoing basis. The negative is extraordinary."

Especially if he doesn't consider the long-term effects of media reaction. These are two groups of exceedingly wealthy people holding each other hostage while thumbing their collective noses at the fans. Sure, every time Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning open their mouths, a size 15 high-top goes in. Union executive director Billy Hunter told player agents on a 90-minute conference call Wednesday that there will be a season.

It has now become fashionable to say the season can be delayed until February and extended another week until the end of April to have slightly more than half a season.

Since Stern didn't ask, we'll tell him anyway. Forget it. Sure, we'll end up covering games and asking countless questions about the short-term and long-range effects of the lockout. We'll even enjoy the Pacers and the Jazz in the NBA Finals, but only if they begin in June and not July.

Nonetheless, this is getting worse every day and there are only two things we care about, just as Billy Shakespeare would have ... to play, or not to play, that is the question.

"If we and our players -- who are ultimately going to have to work together to rebuild this sport -- can't make this deal," Stern said. "I don't think there is that much hope for the sport itself."

Make that pro sports in general.