NBA Owners, Players Reach a Tentative Deal to End Lockout

NEW YORK – NBA owners and players reached a tentative agreement early Saturday to end the 149-day lockout and hope to begin the delayed season on Christmas Day.

Neither side provided many specifics but said the only words players and fans wanted to hear.

"We want to play basketball," Commissioner David Stern said.

Tim Frank, the Senior Vice President of Basketball Communications for the NBA, confirmed to Fox News that the tentative agreement had been reached.

After a secret meeting earlier this week, the sides met for more than 15 hours Friday, working to try to save the season. This handshake deal, however, still must be ratified by both owners and players.

Stern said it was "subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations, but we're optimistic that will all come to pass and that the NBA season will begin Dec. 25."

Barring a change in scheduling, the 2011-12 season will open with the Boston Celtics at New York Knicks, followed by Miami at Dallas in an NBA finals rematch before MVP Derrick Rose and Chicago close the tripleheader against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

The league plans a 66-game season and aims to open training camps Dec. 9. Stern has said it would take about 30 days from an agreement to playing the first game.

"All I feel right now is `finally,"' Dwyane Wade told The Associated Press.

Just 12 days after talks broke down and Stern declared the NBA could be headed to a "nuclear winter," he sat next to union executive director Billy Hunter to announce the deal.

"We thought it was in both of our interest to try to reach a resolution and save the game and to be able to provide the mind of superb entertainment the NBA historically has provided," Hunter said.

A majority on each side is needed to approve the agreement. The NBA needs votes from 15 of 29 owners. (The league owns the New Orleans Hornets.) Stern said the labor committee plans to discuss the agreement later Saturday and expects them to endorse it and recommend to the full board.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/11/26/nba-owners-players-reach-tentative-deal-to-end-lockout/#ixzz1eoMzBnt7

NBA Stars Sign on for First-Ever 'Obama Classic' 2012 Basketball Fundraiser

Want to see some professional basketball? While the National Basketball Association lockout continues to whittle down the regular season, NBA stars will be shooting hoops next month to raise cash for President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign.

The “First-Ever Obama Classic Basketball Game” will be played Dec. 12 in Washington, D.C. and feature a whole host of NBA players. All proceeds will benefit the Obama Victory Fund, a joint account held by the Democratic Party and the president’s re-election campaign.

“Athletes who support President Obama…will play actual games at the event in Washington,” Michael Blake, deputy director of the Obama campaign’s “Operation Vote,” said in an email to prospective donors, Politico reported.

According to the president’s re-election website, more than 30 NBA names are slated to attend, including Boston Celtics’ guard Ray Allen, New York Knicks’ forward Carmelo Anthony and Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh.

It is not yet known whether Obama himself will attend.

Ticket prices range from $100 for a limited number of “Gen44” seats for younger supporters, to $5,000 to sit courtside.

Obama is an avid basketball fan, last weekend watching a college hoops game aboard an aircraft carrier docked in California.

Obama, a noted basketball fan, took in a college game aboard an aircraft carrier last week. (AP Photo)

According to CNN, former professional players attended an Obama fundraiser in Orlando earlier this fall. At that event, Obama reportedly told the crowd, “I don’t miss my shots in the fourth quarter.”

From Obama’s 2012 website, here is the full list of names scheduled to play:

Ray Allen – Carmelo Anthony – Chris Bosh – Vince Carter – Tyson Chandler – Jamal Crawford – Kevin Durant – Baron Davis – Patrick Ewing – Derek Fisher – Rudy Gay – Blake Griffin – Tyler Hansbrough – Dwight Howard – Juwan Howard – Antawn Jamison – Dahntay Jones – Brandon Knight – Kevin Love – Jamal Mashburn – Cheryl Miller – Alonzo Mourning – Dikembe Mutombo – Chris Paul – Quentin Richardson – Doc Rivers – Steve Smith – Jerry Stackhouse – Amare Stoudemire – Tina Thompson – John Wall – Russell Westbrook    

HT~http://www.theblaze.com/stories/nba-stars-sign-on-for-first-ever-obama-classic-2012-basketball-fundraiser/