Silver said, adding, “We feel ultimately it will give fans in every community hope that their team can compete for championships.” “I think it will largely prevent the high-spending teams from competing in the free-agency market in a way that they have been able to in the past,” Mr. In addition to the significant pay cut for players, the deal includes shorter contracts, smaller raises and a more punitive tax system to rein in the top-spending teams. Each side has an option to terminate the deal after six years.
The reduction in player salaries should offset the N.B.A.’s reported $300 million in annual losses, and provide a savings of about $3 billion over the 10-year agreement.
League officials achieved their two broadest goals: reduced costs and a system that evens the playing field between the richest and poorest teams.
No one on the players’ side praised the agreement. Fisher did not smile as he said it, appearing more relieved than happy.īilly Hunter, the longtime head of the players union, sat stoically next to him. “For myself, it’s great to be a part of this particular moment, in terms of giving our fans what it is that they so badly wanted and want to see,” said Derek Fisher, the president of the players union. With a 66-game schedule in reach, everyone finally resolved that those items were not worth sacrificing a season and alienating fans and sponsors. The parties had already resolved the biggest issues, including the $300 million salary reduction, weeks ago, but were hung up on fairly minor details - mostly rules restricting the top-spending teams from adding players. The loss of 16 regular-season games and the preseason cost the owners and players an estimated $400 million each. There is a possibility that the players can make as much as 51 percent or as little as 49 percent, depending on whether the league exceeds or falls short of projections. The new agreement calls for a 50-50 split of basketball-related revenues between the owners and the players, about $2 billion for each side in current terms. The deal was forged by the possibility of a cancellation, the feared loss of billions of dollars for the league and its players, and, perhaps, by the uncertainty created by the looming legal battle. Stern promptly forecast a “nuclear winter” for the league, amid widespread predictions that the 2011-12 season would be canceled. 10.įour days later, the players dissolved their union and filed a federal antitrust lawsuit. The commissioner, David Stern, had tried threats and ultimatums before declaring negotiations over on Nov. A federal mediator had intervened twice without success. That’s most important.”Ī little more than two weeks ago, the talks appeared dead. “We look forward to opening on Christmas Day,” Adam Silver, the N.B.A.’s deputy commissioner, said during the brief news conference. For that, officials on both sides were grateful as they announced a resolution at 3:40 a.m., on the 149th day of the lockout, after a final 15-hour bargaining session at law offices in Midtown Manhattan. The changes mean a $3 billion gain for the owners over the life of the 10-year deal.īefore finally agreeing to those sacrifices, the players’ negotiators won a handful of concessions that will allow the richest teams to keep spending on players, ensuring a more competitive free-agent market.Ī truncated 66-game schedule will begin Christmas Day with three nationally televised games. The league wanted an overhaul of its $4-billion-a-year enterprise, and it got it, with a nearly $300 million annual reduction in player salaries and a matrix of new restrictions on contracts and team payrolls. Six weary figures rose from their chairs early Saturday morning, their expressions telegraphing the conclusion to the N.B.A.’s five-month labor crisis: Basketball is back in business, with a new labor deal that heavily favors the owners, despite some last-minute concessions.