NBA Lockout: Striking Deal Would Be Christmas Miracle

Having no NBA games right now is killing all the momentum the league had at the end of one of their best seasons ever. Now, with news coming out that there may be a deal struck soon with a Christmas Day start, it gives false hope to its basketball-deprived fans. 

It seems like the owners are starting to come around to agreeing with the players on some of the issues that have kept them apart. As according to ESPN via CBS Sports: 

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Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Stern has privately surveyed a handful of owners about their willingness to ease the restrictions on the proposed mid-level exception in a new labor agreement. 

It is believed the league's next proposal to the players will contain tweaks to some of the "system" issues that the players have strongly objected to in recent negotiations. The players have long insisted -- in exchange for accepting a 50/50 split of annual basketball-related income, after earning a 57 percent share of BRI in the final year of the previous labor deal -- that the league's proposed restrictions against luxury-tax teams must be relaxed.

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In the words of Jim Carrey’s character in the movie Dumb and Dumber “So your saying there’s a chance?!” 

That’s what it is right there, a chance. It’s what NBA fans have been hoping to hear as more games are canceled. However from this report, it just seems like a long shot from Stern. 

If we weren’t heading towards Christmas, would Stern be working this hard to get this deal done? Probably not, since having the first game on Christmas Day would be an ideal public relation's move. 

Having that first-game tip on December 25th, the NBA could use the phrase, “Our Christmas gift to our fans, NBA Basketball.” 

But, from what we have seen in these labor negotiations between the two sides, it doesn’t look like either side wants to cave in. The NBA Players Association is willing to go down from 57 percent BRI to 50 percent, but it isn’t good enough for the owners. The owners want to restructure the mid-level exception, which is a deal breaker for the players. 

Both sides here are stubborn and don’t want to seem weak. 

Stern has a big task ahead of him in delivering NBA basketball to the fans on Christmas. 

It’s just too bad that he will be like a parent who’s trying to find that must-have toy for their child to have on Christmas. He wants to deliver for us on December 25th, but we will just have to wait until later to get what we want: the NBA to get back to work and so we can get back to enjoying basketball.

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