The sportswear giant has also reduced its financial support to the NBA in protest at the continuing dispute.

The company behind the swoosh is unamused by dropping profits

"We are doing this because the lockout is hurting fans, it's hurting the sport, and it's hurting the value of our investments in the NBA," Nike spokeswoman Vizhier Mooney said.

The 1998-1999 season was supposed to have started on 3 November, but not a single game has yet been played - the first time that the league has had cancel fixtures in its 52-year history.

NBA owners locked out the players on June 30 because the two sides could not agree about how the sport's annual revenues of about $1.7bn should be divided up.

Last week, Nike attributed a decline in its second quarter sales and earnings in part to the NBA lockout.

Analysts say that the labour dispute has hit the company hard, particularly in the US where its revenues fell 15% to $665.9m.

Long association with basketball

Nike, known for its trademark "Swoosh" logo, has been involved in basketball since 1973, when it introduced its first basketball shoe, the Bruin.

Michael Jordan: Shoe salesman's dream

It has become closely associated with the sport through a combination of streetwise marketing and tie-ins with popular players.

The company created its Air Jordan range of sport shoes in order to capitalise on the popularity of Michael Jordan, basketball's biggest star.

Analysts say middle-range basketball players earn around $100,000 a year from their Nike contracts, while bigger stars can get anything from $250,000 to several millions.

About 230 players in the NBA wear Nike footwear.