Tentative deal reached to end NBA lockout
Plan is for 66-game season to tip off on Christmas Day
A marathon negotiating session, another so-called deadline. But this time, a breakthrough: NBA owners and players have reached a tentative agreement to end the lockout.
Even though the players association disbanded Nov. 14 after rejecting what Commissioner David Stern had called the league's last offer before a drastic reset proposal, the main principals from the two sides were at it again Friday in a New York hotel room. And just after 2 a.m. (Chicago time) Saturday came word that a deal had been reached.
Stern and union leader Billy Hunter announced at a joint news conference that a tentative accord had been reached. The league is planning to open the 2011-12 season on Christmas Day with regularly scheduled games that include the Chicago Bulls playing theLos Angeles Lakers.
"We've reached a tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations, but we're optimistic that will all come to pass and that the NBA season will begin Dec. 25," Stern said.
Plans call for a 66-game season, with training camps opening Dec. 9. The deal must be voted on and accepted by the majority of players and at least 15 of 29 owners (the league owns the New Orleans Hornets).
"We thought it was in both of our interest to try to reach a resolution and save the game and to be able to provide the kind of superb entertainment the NBA historically has provided," Hunter said.
News of the breakthrough was first reported by Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
"All I feel right now is 'finally,"' the Miami Heat'sDwyane Wade told The Associated Press.
Lockout rules remain in place, meaning team officials can't comment on the deal or talk to players until a collective bargaining agreement is signed. Several Bulls players, including Carlos Boozer, voiced support for the deal on Twitter.
The Bulls, like most teams, will be busy. They must decide whether to pick up their $1,725,000 team option on starting shooting guard Keith Bogans. They must monitor the amnesty wire to see which high-priced veterans from other teams get waived and enter free agency.
The Bulls have no plans to use their amnesty option on a player. They will have their $5 million mid-level exception available to sign free agents. However, with Derrick Rose up for a maximum contract extension, signing a veteran free agent to a lower-priced deal could be more realistic.
According to an ESPN.com report, players will receive a little more than 50 percent of basketball-related income, which had been a sticking point.
"This was not an easy agreement for anyone," deputy commissioner Adam Silver said. "The owners came in having suffered substantial losses and feeling the system wasn't working fairly across all teams. I certainly know the players had strong views about expectations in terms of what they should be getting from the system. It required a lot of compromise from both parties' part, and I think that's what we saw today."
Stern had said repeatedly that roughly 30 days are needed from a handshake agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement to season openers. Thus, an agreement in principle had to be in place by this weekend, or perhaps Monday at the latest, for the Christmas Day slate to be staged.
"We resolved, despite some even bumps this evening, that the greater good required us to knock ourselves out and come to this tentative understanding," Stern said.
Though the end to the lockout will necessitate a new, 66-game schedule to be drafted, it was a virtual certainty the powerhouse tripleheader of Celtics at Knicks, Heat at Mavericks in an NBA Finals rematch and Bulls at Lakers would remain intact as the openers.
For this to happen, the union will have to re-form for a new CBA to be ratified. In fact, Friday's talks — the second meeting of the week between the sides after a secret Tuesday session — basically began as settlement talks of the respective lawsuits the sides had filed. When the union disbanded, its right to bargain collectively vanished.
However, the hope was that settlement talks would lead to the guts of a new CBA. And the fact former union President Derek Fisher attended Friday's meeting, as well as former Vice President Maurice Evans, was viewed as another positive sign.
"For myself, it's great to be a part of this particular moment in terms of giving our fans what they wanted and wanted to see," Fisher said.
The league technically has canceled games only through Dec. 15. But once this CBA is drafted and ratified, the season will begin on Christmas.
Contributing: Tribune News Services
kcjohnson@tribune.com
Twitter @kcjhoop
