The recently imposed NBA lockout is expected to be lengthy like the last work stoppage that shortened the 1998-99 season to just 50 games, all played in 1999. The Spurs won the first of their four quasi dynasty titles that season. It was fitting that Spurs center* Tim Duncan and the Pistons' Grant Hill, in full teal uniform and all, were seen in Sprite commercials making fun of the labor strife.

Dime looked back at some of the commercials from the last NBA lockout. (There's some classics in there.)
In hindsight, those commercials were pretty funny. But the lockout was not. And neither is this one. It's being projected to be equally lengthy, and some pundits are suggesting the entire season could be wiped out. It's the NBA's Armageddon.
Nothing has changed more during this impasse than the emergence of social media. Teams are allowed to continue following their players during the lockout, but they cannot tweet or retweet anything the players say. If they do, it's a $1 million fine. Pretty steep. Put that into context, it's about a $20,000 fine for criticizing officials.
And have you noticed a lack of relevant material on NBA.com and its affiliate sites? That's another no-no. Webmasters spent months figuring out how to make the league's stars disappear as if they had never been there.
Well, at least there's still the ever-profitable WNBA, which will continue to air for the rest of the summer both on the NBA's website and the league's TV channel. Enjoy your summer with no real hope to see the best basketball on the planet come fall.