NBA Owners and Players Reach Tentative Agreement

By: Lynette Holloway | Posted: November 26, 2011 at 11:31 AM

NBA Commissioner David Stern (Getty Images)

Michael Lee of the Washington Post is reporting that NBA owners and players have reached tentative terms on a collective bargaining agreement that will allow games to kick off on Christmas Day.

Representatives for the league and players met for an exhausting, 15-hour negotiation session and held a joint news conference around 3:30 a.m. to announce that the lockout is almost over after 149 days.

“The reason for the settlement was we’ve got fans, we’ve got players who would like to play and we’ve got others who are dependent on us,” NBA commissioner David Stern said. “And it’s always been our goal to reach a deal that was fair to both sides and get us playing as soon as possible, but that took a little time.”

Neither side provided details of the deal, but the players agreed to a compromise that would include a 49-51 percent “band” of basketball-related income. The league plans to open training camps on Dec. 9 and have a 66-game season beginning on Dec. 25 with three games: Boston at New York, an NBA Finals rematch of Miami at Dallas, and Chicago at the Los Angeles Lakers.

Finally! We're glad the NBA lockout will soon be over, and we're looking forward to the start of the season.

Read more at the Washington Post.

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