Detroit Pistons lay off 15 employees

Rumors of NBA teams severely cutting back on staffing during the lockout have been ongoing. According to the Associated Press, the Pistons have laid off 15 employees this summer:

"A person familiar with the situation says the Detroit Pistons fired 15 people two weeks ago. The person, who wasn’t authorized to speak about the team’s moves, spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.The job losses come as NBA owners have locked out the players after failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement, shutting down the league for what could be a protracted work stoppage that threatens the start of the 2011-12 season."

In all honesty, the owners and players, if they have managed money properly (granted, that’s a big ‘if’ in some cases), will not be impacted much by a lockout. The real people who are going to lose are rank and file employees like those just laid off by the Pistons, and the longer this lockout lingers, the more those everyday people are going to be impacted.