Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant pauses in the final seconds of their loss to the Dallas Mavericks during Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference semi-final basketball playoff in Dallas, Texas May 6, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

NEW YORK - Contrary to popular belief, the potential fall of the Los Angeles Lakers won't topple NBA headquarters.

Whether or not Los Angeles comes back from dropping the first three games to beat Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals, the league is already losing.

Business is bad, Commissioner David Stern keeps reminding us, and that won't change even if the NBA's most popular team gets back to the finals and faces a marquee opponent for a chance at a third straight title.

- Los Angeles against LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Miami? That's the sexiest matchup.

-LA and Boston again? That story always sells.

-Chicago, with the Lakers getting a chance to beat Phil Jackson's old team in his last run? An easy hook.

But what if none of those happen?

What if Dallas finishes off the champs, then loses in the next round, leaving reporters everywhere scrambling to figure out the best flight schedules into Oklahoma City or Memphis?

What if none of the Eastern powers survives and instead it's the Atlanta Hawks, who struggle for attention in their own city?

For the league, the answer is not much.

Yes, an Atlanta-Memphis final might be a US TV ratings disaster, but that is ABC's problem. The NBA already has a long-term contract with its US TV partners, so it's getting paid whether anyone is watching or not.

Lakers tickets do cost more than in Memphis or Oklahoma City, so there would be an obvious loss of gate revenue if the lights are turned off early at Staples Center.

But the NBA is projecting leaguewide losses of $300 million this season, and those numbers were even higher the last two seasons, both of which ended with Stern handing the Larry O'Brien Trophy to the Lakers.

So even if everything goes perfectly from a ratings perspective, and Kobe Bryant is battling James and Wade in a seven-game finals, Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver will quickly remind everyone that the players were guaranteed 57 percent of revenues, leaving the league too small a share to do business.

In fact, another championship for the Lakers, or some other big spender, could show why owners might shut the NBA down this summer until they can implement a new system that lets the little guys compete, too -precisely because the Lakers and Heat can't save the NBA on their own.