NBA Owners, Players Reach Tentative Deal
Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
NBA Commissioner David Stern (right) and union executive director Billy Hunter speak to the media Saturday in New York City to announce a tentative labor agreement that would end the 149-day lockout.
NBA Commissioner David Stern (right) and union executive director Billy Hunter speak to the media Saturday in New York City to announce a tentative labor agreement that would end the 149-day lockout.
NPR Staff and Wires
After nearly two years of bickering, NBA players and owners are back on the same side.
“We want to play basketball,” Commissioner David Stern said.
Come Christmas Day, they should be.
The sides reached a tentative agreement early Saturday to end the 149-day lockout and hope to begin the delayed season with a marquee triple-header Dec. 25. Most of a season that seemed in jeopardy of being lost entirely will be salvaged if both sides approve the handshake deal.
Barring a change in scheduling, the 2011-12 season will open with the Boston Celtics at New York Knicks, followed by Miami at Dallas in an NBA finals rematch before MVP Derrick Rose and Chicago visiting Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.
Dilemma X 
November 26, 2011
Athletics