Seriously, guys, please don’t shut the NBA down

“Yeah, Adam, how come?’’ Stern asked, sounding as befuddled by this whole situation as the rest of us.

After an uncomfortable pause, Silver began rattling off a numbing array of numbers.

“Costs have risen much faster than revenues over the course of this deal,’’ Silver said. “The last year of the prior deal our BRI, our gross revenues essentially, were rising 10 percent a year. Two years ago, revenue increased 3 percent. Last year, 1 percent. This year, probably somewhere between 3 and 4 percent.’’

My head was hurting at this point, but Silver went on.

“At the same time, non-player costs are growing at a much higher percentage, and the built-in increases of our contracts are much higher than inflation and the growth in our business. For example, the three key players on the Heat all have 10 ½-percent per year increases built into their deals for next year, at a point when revenues in our business are growing somewhere around 3 percent. It’s a broken system.’’

Really? I’m confused, but that’s the power of the BRI.

It’s also why, in all likelihood, July 1 could be a bleak date for the NBA.

That’s when the players could be locked out, and there’s a very good chance — judging by all the harsh words and pessimism on both sides — that an entire season might be in jeopardy. It’s that serious, but most of us only have enough of an attention span to focus on a single labor dispute.

While we’ve been fretting over the NFL lockout, the NBA labor issues have gone largely unnoticed.

Despite all the posturing by the helmet-and-shoulder-pad crowd, we have a feeling they won’t fumble away a sport that makes so much money.

Surely, when all the posturing is done and the court cases sorted out, they’ll come to a detente that ensures we’ll all have some football to watch when Hank Williams Jr. caterwauls, “Are you ready for some football?’’

We’re not nearly as optimistic about the NBA’s off-the-court dispute.