FanHouse

If the Spurs and Lakers series goes more than five games, the travel situation for both teams might get kind of awkward. Or perhaps "non-existent" is a better term.

Why? Because Champion Air, the charter airline that flies 14 NBA teams--including both the Spurs and the Lakers-–is going out of business on May 31, the same day a Game Six would be played.

The poor economic situation -- and nightmarish oil prices -- are the obvious causes of Champion's decision, but it turns out that the airline has not been performing spectacularly anyway. Witness a scheduling fiasco last night that forced the series-winning San Antonio Spurs to spend the evening in their plane (in French and via TrueHoop).

The Americanized version of the story (translated, shortened) is that the Champion plane was not capable of making the trip from NOLA to LA, and because the Spurs hotel was booked, they were forced to sleep on the plane, which did not take off until this morning.

In fact, Champion's performance standards were questionable enough to prompt an early April article in the San Antonio Express questioning the airline's tactics by citing "hundreds of safety and maintenance incidents, according to an examination of Federal Aviation Administration records."

The NBA had promised that the airline would continue running flights throughout the playoffs, but at this point, that seems highly unlikely. Instead, as Darren Rovell mentioned (top link), the NBA is exploring its options by attempting to find a non-commercial alternative for the remaining teams to use.

Given the millions invested in these playoff teams coupled with the issue the Spurs had less than 24 hours ago, I find it hard to believe that Stern and Co. will skimp on the air travel costs this time around. And I don't see Tony Parker and Co. disagreeing either.