The owners and players of the NBA came to a tentative agreement on Nov. 26 to end the lockout and salvage a 2011 to 2012 basketball season.
This tentative agreement should lead to a new collective bargaining agreement that allows teams to resume business on Dec. 9. The agreement calls for a 66-game season starting on Christmas Day, which would shorten the season by 16 games. Although 16 games is a significant chunk of a season, merely having a season at all is fortunate to begin with.
Another stipulation of the deal is that the Basketball Related Income (BRI) that is split between players and owners will now move from a 57 to 43 percent split in favor of the players to a 51.2 to 48.8 split in favor of the players for this season, and between 49 to 51 percent for the players in later seasons. The length of the new deal is 10 years, but either the players or the owners can opt out in 2017.
A quick recap of the lockout: it began July 1. Because of the large disparity between the current collective bargaining agreement and what the owners wanted, especially regarding BRI, many believed that the season surely wouldn’t happen.
Negotiations went on unsuccessfully for about three months before cancellations began. On Oct. 10, fears about the NBA season were realized as the first two weeks of the regular season were cancelled by league commissioner David Stern.
By Oct. 28, all games through Nov. 30 were cancelled. On Nov. 14, the labor union that had been doing the negotiations for the players was dissolved.
The following day, all games through Dec. 15 were cancelled, and the players filed antitrust lawsuits against the NBA. If pursued, this lawsuit would have been extensively dragged out in the federal courts, almost surely cancelling the entire season.
But then, after 15 hours of negotiating on Nov. 25, the owners and players reached a settlement the following day to end the lockout.
This lockout settlement comes as a relief to many. For fans, it’s the joy of screaming at the top of their lungs as their team hits a buzzer-beater to win the game, then gloating profusely afterwards, that makes the end to this lockout so great. Others have more important implications to the season resuming.
In addition to the players, thousands of American’s salaries are dependent on the NBA or entities related to the league. Without a season, these people don’t get paid. Forgetting the actual game for a second, the fact that all these people will now have jobs again might be the most significant aspect to the lockout ending.
In Dallas, the Mavs will be back to reclaim their title. NBA players will be coming through Moody and Dedman to use the facilities. Things are normal again. Welcome back, NBA.
The Mavs will open the season as part of three (that might turn into five) Christmas day games. Dallas will play in a finals rematch against the Miami Heat. Other Christmas day gifts the NBA will be giving us feature the Chicago Bulls against the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Boston Celtics against the New York Knicks.
