By Chris Agar (Whetstone Staff Writer)

If you’re following the latest news in both the NFL and the NBA, then you know that in 2011, the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for each league expires. If the owners and the players association can’t reach an agreement on a new one, then there could be no season for both leagues.

I know it sounds perplexing, but it’s true. These multi-millionaires that we root for and in some cases worship will go on strike because they don’t want to take a pay cut in order to save the league and play for the fans.

“[NBA players] are going to have to get by on $12 million instead of $15 million,” joked NBA hall of famer Charles Barkley when he was a guest on ESPN’s show Pardon the Interruption in February.

Out of all the professional sports leagues, the NBA is the one in the worst shape.

Some of the contracts handed out are outrageous (look at Eddy Curry making a cool $10.5 million for the Knicks to sit on the bench and get fat). Teams trade players not to get better, but to save money. Commissioner David Stern, who has already seen one work stoppage during his tenure, said that the NBA will lose $400 million in revenue this year. They need to fix the system. The good news is that they still have a year to do it. The bad news is that an initial proposal was already rejected and discussions have reached a stalemate.

The NFL’s future is looking bleak as well. Executive director of the player’s association DeMarice Smith said that on a scale of 1 to 10, the likelihood of a lockout in 2011 is a 14. According to a recent New York Post article, the owners are trying to pass an 18-percent pay cut to the players. Discussions for a new CBA have hit a wall.

The smart thing for the players to do is take the pay cut and continue playing the game. We are in the worst recession since the Great Depression. They can’t expect to get the massive contracts that they’ve been getting the past decade. If the players lock out, they’re going to look like the bad guys. The owners are trying to be fiscally responsible in tough economic times.

As a fan, I’m having flashbacks to Latrell Sprewell’s “I have a family to feed” statement when he was offered a three-year contract worth $30 million and rejected it. Are the players going to be this greedy?

If this actually happens (the optimist in me believes it won’t), I will find it hard to celebrate the return of the NFL and the NBA.

Unemployment in America is at 10 percent right now and it is harder and harder to find work. These athletes get paid millions of dollars to play a game. They make more money in a year than any of us will make in our life. If they go on strike, they will come across as selfish and greedy.

The players should think about the fans that support them through thick and thin and do whatever they can to ensure those people that they will still have their sports to turn to in 2011.