Related News
Home » Sports » Basketball
NBA: Owners, players reach tentative deal
November 26, 2011, Saturday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
NBA owners and players have reached a tentative deal to end the lockout and hope to open a shortened season on Christmas day.
NBA commissioner David Stern emerged from a 15-hour meeting between the parties in the early hours of this morning to say they had reached a "tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations."
He added: "We're optimistic that will all come to pass and that the NBA season will begin December 25."
Any agreement must still be ratified by both NBA owners and players, with a majority needed on each side.
The ratification process for the players is complicated by the fact that they disbanded their union on November 14 -- when talks last broke down -- and launched an anti-trust lawsuit against the league.
They must drop the lawsuit and re-form the union in order to vote on the deal.
"We thought it was in both of our best interests to try to reach a resolution and save the game," union executive director Billy Hunter said.
If the deal is approved, it paves the way for a season in which each team plays 66 games.
And it appears to have come in time to save the league's traditional marquee Christmas lineup.
If the schedule stays the same, this season's December 25 games feature feature Miami at Dallas in a rematch of last season's championship series won by the Mavericks over the LeBron James-led Heat, plus Boston at New York and Chicago at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Stern said the league's labor committee would to discuss the agreement later today and he expects them to recommend it to owners.
"We want to play basketball," Stern said.
The league locked out players on July 1 after the previous collective bargaining agreement expired.
Owners, claiming US$300 million in losses last season among 22 of the league's 30 clubs, said they needed changes in how they divided some US$4 billion in revenue and stricter controls on salary spending.
The wrangles over the financial issues eventually saw games scheduled from November 1-December 15 cancelled.
Details of the agreement were sketchy as of this morning and a few issues such as drug testing remained to be negotiated.
"We're very pleased we've come this far," Stern said. "There's still a lot of work to be done."
Added NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver: "This was not an easy agreement for anyone. 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," Silver said. "It required a lot of compromise from both parties' part, and I think that's what we saw today."
- AFP
NBA commissioner David Stern emerged from a 15-hour meeting between the parties in the early hours of this morning to say they had reached a "tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations."
He added: "We're optimistic that will all come to pass and that the NBA season will begin December 25."
Any agreement must still be ratified by both NBA owners and players, with a majority needed on each side.
The ratification process for the players is complicated by the fact that they disbanded their union on November 14 -- when talks last broke down -- and launched an anti-trust lawsuit against the league.
They must drop the lawsuit and re-form the union in order to vote on the deal.
"We thought it was in both of our best interests to try to reach a resolution and save the game," union executive director Billy Hunter said.
If the deal is approved, it paves the way for a season in which each team plays 66 games.
And it appears to have come in time to save the league's traditional marquee Christmas lineup.
If the schedule stays the same, this season's December 25 games feature feature Miami at Dallas in a rematch of last season's championship series won by the Mavericks over the LeBron James-led Heat, plus Boston at New York and Chicago at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Stern said the league's labor committee would to discuss the agreement later today and he expects them to recommend it to owners.
"We want to play basketball," Stern said.
The league locked out players on July 1 after the previous collective bargaining agreement expired.
Owners, claiming US$300 million in losses last season among 22 of the league's 30 clubs, said they needed changes in how they divided some US$4 billion in revenue and stricter controls on salary spending.
The wrangles over the financial issues eventually saw games scheduled from November 1-December 15 cancelled.
Details of the agreement were sketchy as of this morning and a few issues such as drug testing remained to be negotiated.
"We're very pleased we've come this far," Stern said. "There's still a lot of work to be done."
Added NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver: "This was not an easy agreement for anyone. 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," Silver said. "It required a lot of compromise from both parties' part, and I think that's what we saw today."
- AFP
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
