The NBA Lockout is reportedly over
Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski and others broke news early this morning of the NBA players and owners coming to terms with a new collective bargaining agreement that, if ratified, will allow a 66-game NBA season to begin on December 25.
Wojnarowski: Free agency and training camps will start on Dec. 9, Stern said. Under the current agreement, the regular season would have a 66-game schedule that begins on Christmas Day with three games: Boston Celtics at the New York Knicks; Miami Heat at the Dallas Mavericks; and Chicago Bulls at the Los Angeles Lakers.
One of the sticking points in the negotiations had been the Basketball Related Income (BRI) split. The previous CBA had split al BRI 57-43 in favor of the players. Under the new tentative agreement, the split is 50-50.
NBA Comissioner David Stern had previously stated that a deal needed to be in place 30 days before the season would be able to start, and if there were no games by December 25, the season would likely be lost. That likely put an extra importance on the last minute marathon negotiations that began the Friday after Thanksgiving, and lasted 26 hours, ending around 3 am, EST.
Although some players have reportedly expressed some dissatisfaction with the current proposal and said that they will not vote on it, it is unlikely that there will be enough dissention to derail the deal. Many players have taken to social networks and media outlets declaring the lockout to be over, and themselves being delighted to return to playing the game.
“The lockout is over,” Philadelphia 76ers guard Evan Turner tweeted earlier this morning, “Time to hop on the eliptical for some cardio.”
If everything goes as planned, training camps begin December 9.
You can see some details of the tentative agreement here, via sheridanhoops.com
