[Orlando, FL] The National Basketball Association (NBA) has pulled the plug on another huge chunk of the 2011-2012 season, leaving fans around the globe empty-handed when it comes to professional world-class basketball.

All regular season games through Dec. 15 have now been officially cancelled, the result of the continuing NBA Lockout.

On Monday, the union representing the players – who’s been in negotiations with the league and its owners to establish a new collective bargaining agreement – rejected the latest offer from the NBA. Some say it was not a wise move.

Florida has two of the hottest teams in the league: the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat.

Earlier this month, Sunshine Slate reported that outspoken Heat owner Micky Arison was fined half a million dollars for his comments about the lockout. Last season, his Heat appeared in the NBA Finals where they lost to the Dallas Mavericks.

That underwhelming performance followed a rollercoaster season that saw the star-studded team struggle mightily against great expectations. Some say a protracted lock-out could hurt the Heat’s cohesiveness, which was starting to show signs at the end of last season.

The Orlando Magic have played it much more low-key, resorting to issuing press-releases promoting the team’s community involvement and the like.

In an email to the media and the fans, Magic president Alex Martins called the rejected proposal “fair” and that it “addressed many of the players’ concerns.”

Unlike Arison, Martins knows NBA team officials have to be careful what they say during the negotiations. The stakes are high as billions of dollars in league revenue is being divided up to everyone’s satisfaction.

Adding pressure to the 140-day (and counting) stand-off: the players were supposed to be getting their first checks this week.

And now a Florida politician is getting into the game as well. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer was quoted in the Orlando Sentinel, calling out league president David Stern in regards to this season’s NBA All-Star Game, which is scheduled for the shiny new Amway Center.

“I would think they [the NBA] would have a moral obligation to give us a second All-Star game since we wouldn’t be getting the All-Star game in the fashion that it was promoted to us,” Dyer said.

Spoken like a true politician running for office. But he does make a great point: Orlando does deserve another All-Star go-around. Theoretically, the city and its basketball fans could lose the entire season, superstar center Dwight Howard and the All-Star Game – all within a year.

Talk about hard court devastation.

But Martins is focused on the NBA Lockout right now.

“We regret that a new agreement has not been reached,” stated Martins. “Our fans are our most important asset as without you the game would not be the same. We continue to share your frustration and we understand the impact this has had on you.”

By: Mark Christopher/Sunshine Slate

NBA Lockout