Lockout finally over

Handshake deal. It's about time.

"Free agency and training camps will start on Dec. 9," Stern said.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_nba_lockout_ends-112611

I wonder who caved in first, owners or players. This has been crazy these last few weeks, it seemed like they had gotten all they were going to get from
the owners, missing a paycheck helped this along, I am sure.

From Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports: (from steve3344's link above)

The negotiating session nearly came undone in the early moments on Friday night when Players Association counsel Jeffrey Kessler told Stern and the NBA’s negotiating team through a speaker phone that the players wanted to move back to a 51 percent revenue split, a league source told Y! Sports. Stern, labor relations committee chairman Peter Holt and deputy commissioner Adam Silver termed the proposal “unacceptable,” and soon left the conference room.

Kessler is the one that was involved in the NFL negotiations. Once he was out of that picture, both sides got together and made an agreement and the NFL season got underway.

No details of the last-minute compromises were announced, but the sides had completed at least 95 percent of their work as of two weeks ago and needed to find middle ground on several unresolved system issues and the specifications of the new financial split under which players will receive approximately 50 percent of basketball-related income.

Players made concessions totaling $3 billion over the 10-year term of the agreement. Both sides will have the option to opt out of the deal after six years.

“It will largely prevent the high spending teams from competing in the free agent market the way they have in the past. The luxury tax is harsher than it was in the last deal, and we hope it’s effective and will give fans in each community hope that they will compete for a championship,” deputy commissioner Adam Silver said.

http://sheridanhoops.com/2011/11/26/bulletin-deal-reached-to-end-nba-lockout/

No more mentions of Kessler? He seems to be the guy that drives wedges between the sides. When the wedges are no longer needed, he steps back? Did they really need to play, "Good cop - Bad cop" this late in the game?

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I wonder who caved in first, owners or players. This has been crazy these last few weeks, it seemed like they had gotten all they were going to get from
the owners, missing a paycheck helped this along, I am sure.

Think your last line bears a lot of weight! Some of these guys have a lot for sure BUT they also lead quite a lavish lifestyle too and it doesn't take long for them to start hurting a bit let alone the mid level players and below. Regardless I really don't need to know the sordid details just give me my C's!

Wonder if they just pick the original schedule up from Christmas or do they try to set up a new one? I'm sure there would be teams that have a front loaded home schedule that might get screwed a bit.

beat

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I wonder who caved in first, owners or players. This has been crazy these last few weeks, it seemed like they had gotten all they were going to get from
the owners, missing a paycheck helped this along, I am sure.

Rosalie,

My guess is that the owners got the 50-50 split and then backed off some of their hard stands on the "system issues". The owners gave the players just enough for them to save face.

gyso

They still cannot make eye contact!! (LOL)

Halle-freaking-lujah.

Ok, time to re-focus on what's important, relevant and a helluva lot more interesting. We need at least one 5, probably two, and that's assuming Krstic comes back.

If we are playing by December 25th like they are saying (isn't is amazing how TV ratings can affect a negotiation?) then we're probably looking at a 55-60 game season. That's good for an older, veteran team that has played together for years like ours.

What we're looking at is an exhibition season with no training camp or a mini-training camp and a shortened exhibition season (I doubt we'll see a whole month of nothing but camp, but we could see 2-3 weeks of camp and then the players have a week off to finish relocating to their franchise cities from their off-season locales). IMO, we'll probably see Scenario #2, since coaches need to see player combos in games that are not intramural scrimmages and that means exhibition games. However, they also need to see who's in shape and fills team needs and who isn't, ergo at least some camp. God help any Celtic that comes into camp not in shape. Ol' Man Allen will put them to shame and KG will be nuking them with F-bombs.

FINALLY, something to get excited about.

bob

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Also, I'll be interested to see if the way they get to 55-60 games is by just eliminating at least some opposing Conference road trips. That will save travel money for the owners and wear-and-tear on the players. So, for example, no Texas Triangle for the Celtics.

Maybe. Just a thought on how they'll make this work. It'd be easier to just say "the season schedule is already set, whenever it starts) but teams (and owners) that have a lot of their road trips in the second half of the season (and therefore would have to play them) would be penalized vs. teams that have their road trips in November and December or even have them evenly spread out (and would have those games be zeroed out because of our late start to the season).

bob

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My understanding is that the owners got to keep the 50/50 split but moved on some of those "system issues" 66 game schedule, C's vs some team from NYC on the 25th. So we get time to sign new players, a short training camp and finally what we all need and want. the real victory for the owners is that they did not have to open their books and show who is really losing and how much.

Hot news that the Celtics just called Verizon to report that five of their phone lines have melted.

Sam

mulcogiseng wrote:My understanding is that the owners got to keep the 50/50 split but moved on some of those "system issues" 66 game schedule, C's vs some team from NYC on the 25th. So we get time to sign new players, a short training camp and finally what we all need and want. the real victory for the owners is that they did not have to open their books and show who is really losing and how much.

mulcogiseng,

Good catch. We are looking at a 66 game season.

bob

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i dont care about the sdetails at this point... i just wanna say Wooooo!!!!

thanx guys, this will be a great wedding gift!

At last - goodby reality, hello basketball mania. Speaking of which, has anyone read former Celt Chris Herron's "Basketball Junkie?" I saw his video on ESPN - what a hellish journey he had through drug addiction. Glad he's in recovery.

I wrote about that book a while ago, I had read the first one "Fall River Dreams", by the same author, then Herron wrote this. Quite a life, huh?
Hopefully he stays clean and sober for the duration of his life and is a strong
influence on his children. What a waste of a talent.

Rosalie, Yes a great waste of talent, but he seems to have grown spiritually and is now an inspiration to others. He's still very humble and takes life one day at a time.

Finally! and Woohoo!!!! I agree with all of the above. A triple header Christmas day? Guess who will be declining invitations to party with friends in favor of staying home and watching the games? :-)