NBA Lockout: Why Players Must Accept Deal for 72-Game Season

The NBA Lockout continues to frustrate fans, but there's a new deal on the table that the players must agree with. 

We can all agree the lockout has lasted far too long, and nobody wants to see anymore games get cancelled. 

So when ESPN's Marc Stein reported that NBA commissioner David Stern offered a new deal, it's hard not to see the players taking it. 

Only missing 10 games of the season would be great for the players. It would be difficult to do that because at that time last year, most teams had already played over 20 games.

Plus, there is still free agency and a period for training camp. Stern said all of that would be compressed, which would certainly be interesting to watch unfold, as a lot of teams need to restructure their lineups. 

In Stein's column on ESPN, he quoted Stern saying that he knows some people won't agree with the new deal. 

"

We don't expect them to love every aspect of our revised proposal. I would say that there are many teams that don't like every aspect of our revised proposal. (But) we moved as far as we could and now we're at where we're at.

"

The players would be really selfish if they don't accept this deal. 

I agree that both parties have already been selfish, stubborn and greedy during this lockout, but there is a lot of money to be made in the NBA and trying to get what they believe is a fair share is taking awhile. 

Fans continue to grow impatient with each day, anticipating when the lockout will finally be over and they can see their favorite stars perform. 

This new deal should excite them, but there is still that chance players don't accept it. Stein tweeted a response from a source of his on what they players think about the new deal. 

The players seriously need to consider this deal throughout the weekend and not just blow it off because it isn't exactly what they want. 

Nobody is going to get everything they want from this. After all, it's a negotiation. 

I don't think any games should have been missed in the first place, as they should have agreed on a temporary deal for say one maybe two years to blow off steam and the address the issue again at the end of the year.

Obviously neither party wanted that, but now that the lockout is getting farther and farther into November, it's time a deal gets done. 

Stern said that if they players don't accept this deal, the owners will revert back to their 47 percent proposal, which the players didn't like either.

It's time to put this saga to end and start playing basketball. The deal is there for the taking, and the players need to jump on it.