Spartan Times

NBA lockout over

By Carvel Clagget, Reporter

   NBA players and owners have finally come to a deal regarding the 2011-2012 NBA season. A deal was agreed upon early last week and it includes a 66 game season ending on April 26^th.

   The new deal is only temporary as it is only scheduled to last six years at which that time will call for a new CBA. Details are scarce at this point, though ardent followers of this mess no doubt have an idea of where both sides stand a week from December, but one can certainly conclude that the NBA will begin playing basketball on Christmas Day, embarking on a 66-game season.

   The league kicks off with five games on December 25th. These games are headlined by the Miami Heat’s return to Dallas for an NBA finals rematch and the reigning MVP Derrick Rose takes his Chicago Bulls squad into LA to face Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

   The most exciting part of this new deal is the rumor mill of NBA trades and NBA free agency. Talks of Chris Paul and Dwight Howard being traded to different teams have caused a stir amongst the NBA world. Numerous free agents have shifted teams and due to the new rules in the NBA contract it has given teams more flexibility to sign high level free agents.

   Teams like the Sacramento Kings have extreme flexibility to not only offer great rookie contracts, but keep their veterans happy with solid contracts. The same dynamic has continued to unfold this week, right up to the players’ vote. Union leaders held a conference call with players and agents Tuesday, and a call open to all 450 players was held Wednesday in advance of the vote. Allen, who once had reservations about the deal, has “turned all the way around 180,” said a person who spoke with him recently. Garnett, pounding his chest about what a bad deal this was for the players only a few days ago, is now said to be “cool” after spending at least an hour on the phone Tuesday with a member of the union’s negotiating team.

   “It’s a huge misunderstanding and it’s really sad,” said Evans, who got his degree in education from the University of Texas last weekend. “It’s sad to see that so many players are controlled by their agents. They work for their agents instead of vice versa.”

   The final product is something that neither side is happy with. From the restrictions on tax-paying teams, too little if any curtailment of superstars’ desires to congregate in glamorous cities, to a compressed, 66-game schedule that is ripe for injuries and the ugliest brand of basketball — this is the best that could be done? The same deal couldn’t have been done weeks ago, saving a full or more realistically scheduled season? The legal side of the NBA can finally be put aside, and the entire world will finally be able to view games on the court, not inside of one.

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