by Andrew on Tue Jun 17, 2003 10:07 pm
It was a 50 game season. Just adding to what Swoosh said, the Collective Bargaining Agreement settled in 1995 expired in 1998, and because of things such as KG's huge contract (and the way he basically held the Timberwolves at ransom), owners and players couldn't agree on terms for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Therefore, the players were "locked out" and time was lost, forcing a shorter schedule.
Because of all the chaos in the negotiations and the hastily thrown together NBA season, it was said that whoever won the title would have an asterisk next to their name - a footnote about the lockout season. This train of thought pretty much took away credit from the Spurs when they won the title in 1999.