Image via WikipediaIn the wee small hours of Thanksgiving weekend while most Americans were stuffed with turkey, football and Black Friday purchases, the NBA settled its lockout. This was just days after it was widely assumed that the 2011-12 season was kaput.The new 10-year labor agreement (pending approval by owners and players, even though they dissolved their union) includes a nearly 50/50 split of revenues, a stronger luxury tax on owners who go over the salary cap, restrictions on free agency, and shorter player contracts. This should appease small market teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, who won't have to go through another LeBron James All Stars situation with Kevin Love.
The NBA wants to begin its season on Christmas Day, with three games that were originally scheduled for national TV. They will play a 66-game schedule, with 16 already lost in the two months since the regular season was supposed to start. And it will end on time, with the playoffs going from late April to mid-June.
So did you really miss the NBA? With pro and college football reaching its peak, and the NHL getting some attention for a change, basketball was hardly missed. Besides, this was a really stupid time for the NBA to go on hiatus after a successful season. With a struggling economy and millions of people out of work, the problems of millionaires and billionaires didn't amount to a hill of beans. Even the National Football League figured that out during their recent lockout, which is why they managed to save a full season by coming to an agreement with its players prior to training camp.
But now it's a few weeks of frenzy before the opening tip. Schedules have to be rewritten. A truncated free agency period will take place. A week (or so) of training camp and maybe a preseason game or two. Then, let the hoopla begin.
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