The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Oct. 8, 2011

At some point, those players in the NBA should have learned a valuable lesson from their friends in the NFL about how to handle a labor dispute.

That didn't happen.

Fans might be optimistic that a deal can be done to save the 82-game schedule in the near future, but don't count on it.

AS PLAYERS in the NFL were locked out, there weren't too many that were looking to spread their wings and take their talents to the Arena Football League.

Players were involved heavily in their negotiations, trying as often as they could to reach a deal before it was too late to start the season.

Don't get me wrong - that might have been pretty cool to watch Drew Brees step into a Spokane Shock uniform and start throwing passes to Larry Fitzgerald - but it didn't happen.

Those players in the NBA are looking at their options to play in Italy, France and wherever else they can sign a contract and make a few dollars.

For what? To play a game that nobody in the U.S. will get to see?

Chances are that those players who opt to play in another country will be allowed to come back once the lockout is settled, but honestly, who cares?

If you really, truly love the game of basketball, just stay home and work things out with the folks that sign your paychecks.

The previous NBA lockout extended from July 1, 1998, to Jan. 20, 1999, and forced that season to be condensed into 50 games, with no All-Star Game.

Right now, it doesn't look any more promising the season will get started before New Year's again.

FOR AS popular as the NBA is during the final two months of the season, the attention to games isn't quite the same as for the opening week of games.

Outside of games on ESPN and TNT, the national television audience doesn't begin tuning into the games until Christmas Day or after the Super Bowl.

At this rate, the only basketball being played that weekend could be at the college or high school level.

With players like Kobe Bryant considering playing in Italy, along with others trying to find temporary homes until the lockout is over, does it really sound like they’ve got the best interest of the fans in mind here?

Probably not.

Players, in most cases, are just trying to get paid.

And that’s fine, because they deserve most of that money that owners are giving them.

Just don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for them once their battle is over.

Meanwhile, those fans that keep them in business realize why they watch football, hockey and baseball.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com.