Who said history doesn’t repeat itself? I swear, the NBA lockout is just like the baseball strike.

One could say that it is another illustration of greedy, primadonna players wanting bigger salaries.

One could say that these major league players no longer play the sport with their hearts, but with their wallets.

One could say that these players have watched the movie “Jerry McGuire” too many times, especially since their union motto could be “Show me the money.”

What it really comes down to is determining if the players are getting their fair shares.

Neither side seems to be budging, and the damage has already begun.

Two weeks of the NBA’s regular season has been canceled and more cancellations are expected since neither of the sides have bargaining meetings planned this week.

On Monday, NBA players received a blow when an arbitrator rejected the union’s grievance that all players with guaranteed contracts be paid during the lockout. The ruling cost players more than $100 million in lost salaries.

You’d think $15 million and $18.5 million contracts would keep almost any athlete happy. How many houses and cars do they need?

Most of ’em have something on the side anyway, whether it be trying to be a drag queen, rapper, actor or they endorse everything from underwear to pop. We all know Michael Jordan would probably dump Nike to promote Pro Wings if the price was right. And I ain’t mad at him.

But once again, I still have to wonder if the players are getting their fair share. Should the NBA Commission be able to set a salary cap on how much players can earn?

I can’t deny that, to the average American, making $3 million a year just for running up and down a court and shooting a round ball into a basket is a lot of money. However, the real question is how much are the team owners making?

I think the players deserve every single penny they get, and if the team owners are making more money, then the players should make more money. The players are the people Americans tune into every weekend to watch. They’re the one performing those super-phenomenal feats.

Americans can say that the players are primadonnas, whiners and spoiled, but we can only blame ourselves for the enormous power sports and athletes have in this nation.

Every time we tune into a basketball game or buy a box of Wheaties, a can of Sprite or a pair of Nike basketball shoes because it was endorsed by a basketball player, we only feed the problem.

You’re living in a fantasy world if you think the NBA players are performing solely for the love of the game.

At the major league level, sports are no longer after-school activities; they’re a business. And with any business, you will have unhappy employees and unhappy customers.

There’s no doubt in my mind that this lockout will create disappointed and unsupportive fans. Remember the baseball strike?

The NBA players may have lost the first round because of the arbitrator’s ruling, but in the long run, the NBA Commission and team owners will lose.

Fans’ lack of support and faith in the players will lead to low attendance and viewership of games, which will add up to lost money for team owners. However, the long-run cost for the NBA players is not as great.

Who could stop liking or admiring adorable and skilled Michael Jordan. What fan would be able to stop tuning in to see Dennis Rodman’s new hair color of the week?

Getting fans back on their courts will definitely not be a problem for the NBA players. It will probably not take as long to get support back as it did after the baseball strike because watching baseball on TV is boring as hell.

To Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman and Shaquille O’Neal I say, “You better go on and get that money.”

And if the fans ain’t got your back when this is over, I’m sure a race to break some record would get ’em back.

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Tara Deering is a senior is journalism and mass communication from Des Moines. She is editor in chief of the Daily.