NBA Lockout: Ending in Sight Is Best Gift for Fans on Black Friday

Day 148 of the NBA Lockout is upon us, but we may have basketball on Christmas. Labor talks will resume today at noon EST, and the outlook is an optimistic one.

With Jim Quinn replacing Jeffrey Kessler as representative for players, we could see the negotiations end soon. The players appear ready to take a 50-50 revenue split, which is a step in the right direction. Now the owners must swallow their pride and accept these reasonable terms if we are to see basketball on Christmas.

A handshake agreement this week would give us basketball on Christmas, which would start a potential 66-game season.

Both sides seem ready to make a deal, and it seems that just about every NBA expert is optimistic that this weekend will be the beginning of the end of the lockout.

The biggest obstacle facing the two sides is the escrow tax system. This system is designed to guarantee that the players' share of revenue does not exceed the agreed upon amount.

In order to do so a certain percentage of the players' paychecks are withheld throughout the season. The previous amount was 8 percent, but the owners want to bump that up to 10 percent.

The players are worried that they may be taken advantage of under this new system because the terms are vague. In order to end this dispute, the two sides must agree to a percent and clear up exactly how they would go about this business.

Quinn seems to be doing a good job of helping the negotiations along, and because he has taken over, I see this being resolved before the weekend is over. This will in turn lead to a shortened NBA season, but a season nonetheless.

While we are all shopping on Black Friday the NBA players and owners are settling their differences, and the best Christmas gift this year will be an NBA season.