NEW ORLEANS, La. -- An avid sports fan, Eddie Rantz of River Ridge has cheered on the Hornets for years.
"You do want to support the local team and make sure the franchise stays here," said Rantz.
But now that the NBA plans to lock out its players at 11:01 p.m. Thursday, Rantz fears his team won't have much of a season.
"It affects me in the sense, right now I have Saints and Hornets season tickets, and I can't see either right now," said Rantz.
Experts say the NBA and the players association are far from an agreement, putting the season in jeopardy.
"It's a little disappointing" said Rantz. "It's not surprising."
"It comes down to selfishness and the greed," said Shawn Hodges, a basketball fan from the D.C. area who was visiting New Orleans Thursday. "It will affect the kids who idolize these players."
It's the first lockout in over a decade. The last lockout reduced the 1998-1999 season to only 50 games. Experts hope that won't happen here.
"From the Hornets perspective, from the community's perspective, it's really important that they get to a sound collective bargaining agreement," said Arnie Fielkow, City Council vice president and former deputy commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association.
A long-lasting lockout could impact businesses near the arena that thrive on crowds from Hornets games.
"I think it obviously will have a tremendous effect and impact," said Chris Johnson, a bartender at Lucy's Retired Surfer's Bar in New Orleans. "People come out here on random Tuesday nights just to come right before the Hornets games, so I think it will have an affect on me and my pocketbook, and for all the businesses around this area."
Still, experts and fans alike say they hope the lockout will eventually end in an agreement that could help small-market teams like the Hornets.
"The current NBA system really puts a lots of clubs in financial peril," said Fielkow. "It's very difficult for small market clubs under the current agreement. So I think a new labor agreement ultimately will be beneficial for our city and our team, which means they could stabilize ownership for longterm success in our city."
"So if this leads to a situation where the Hornets have a better chance of keeping a Chris Paul or any other superstar they may draft in the future, the short term pain may be worth the longterm benefit," said Rantz.
Fielkow doesn't believe that the NBA's ownership of the Hornets will have any affect on how the lockout will impact the team.
Union Chief Billy Hunter told the Associated Press the clock is running on whether there will be a loss of games this season. Training camps usually open the last week of September. The regular season typically opens about a month after that.
