With all of the controversy going on in the NBA, there was a good chance there would not be an NBA season at all this year. On Nov. 25 though Nov. 26, NBA players and owners met with the intention of reaching a new collective bargaining agreement. The meeting was successful and the sides reached at tentative agreement to end the 149-day lockout.
“We’ve reached a tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations, but we’re optimistic that all will come to pass and that the NBA season will begin Dec. 25,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said.
This is the day that fans, players, coaches, and any viewers of men’s professional basketball have been waiting for. On Christmas day, they will get their wish. On this special day there will be five games to open the delayed season.
“The reason for the settlement was we’ve got fans, we’ve got players who would like to plays and we’ve got others who are dependent on us,” Stern said.
The timers of the Christmas day games have been announced and they will be as follows: The first game will be at noon EST, followed by games at 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 8 p.m., and 10:30 p.m. tip offs.
Miami Heat forward LeBron James commented on the new deal via his Twitter account, “Man I just got up not to long ago and I see we have a deal! I feel like my kids on X-mas day! So juiced!!”
There were tons more Twitter updates from various stars and as you can tell, many of the players are ecstatic that basketball is back and they can now prepare for another exciting season. The league plans a 66-game season and aims to open camps by Dec. 9th.