ESPN NBA

The NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement, implemented in January 1999 after a lockout almost destroyed the entire season, expires after next season and according to the numbers, it's taking Shaquille O'Neal and the NBA's best players with it.

The players and owners have already begun meetings to discuss a new agreement. The primary issue is Commissioner David Stern's drive to constrict the maximum length of contracts. This action would, in effect, limit the amount of money the league's best players are receiving.

The players are saying they won't accept such an idea and another lockout could ensue. But a look at what's happened over the last six years, in comparison to the previous six, shows that players like O'Neal, one of six vice-presidents in the Players Union, have already lost a substantial amount of money.

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