Message Board Basketball Forum - InsideHoops - NBA lays off 114 employees claims not due to lockout

The AP reports:

The NBA laid off about 114 people over the last two days, planned cost-cutting moves that a league spokesman said Thursday are "not a direct result of the lockout."

The laid off employees represent about 11 percent of the league office workforce in New York, New Jersey and internationally.

Spokesman Mike Bass told The Associated Press the layoffs are "not a direct result of the lockout but rather a response to the same underlying issue; that is, the league's expenses far outpace our revenues."

"The roughly 11 percent reduction in headcount from the league office is part of larger cost-cutting measures to reduce our costs by $50 million across all areas of our business," Bass said.

The league said it lost $300 million this season after losing hundreds of millions in each previous year of the collective bargaining agreement that expired at the end of the day June 30.