I love Shaq and he may be correct to a certain extent but if the Hawks don't pay Joe Johnson, the Hawks don't see any playoff games which means no money.

Shaq

With the NBA lockout approaching its third month, training camps are in jeopardy of not starting on time. But former LSU star Shaquille O’Neal, who announced his retirement after 19 seasons this past June, said there will be a season, though, it's not likely to start on time. Training camps are set to open in two weeks.

``They are stalling us out,’’ O’Neal said. ``All the issues they are talking about on TV, those aren’t real issues.''

O’Neal said the owners are partly to blame for the league’s current financial woes. The NBA announced last spring that 22 of the league’s 30 teams lost money, including the New Orleans Hornets which have been owned by the league since last December.

The NBA wants to implement a revenue-sharing plan designed to help small-market franchise such as the Hornets and cut player payroll by about 40 percent or $800 million with a hard salary cap, which the player association opposes.

O’Neal said a number of owners have overspent to keep players on rosters despite incurring significant revenue losses. O’Neal points to the Atlanta Hawks’ decision to re-sign guard Joe Johnson to a six-year, $119 million contract in July 2010 as a prime example of a franchise overpaying for a player when they not bringing in significant revenue to offset the costs.

``I love Joe Johnson and I hope he doesn’t get mad with me, but he’s not a $20 million a year guy,'' O'Neal said. ``Business-wise, Atlanta isn’t making that much money. But if you are going to offer a kid a lot of money, he’s going to take it. I think we need a system that protect the owners from each other.’’

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