The 2011 NBA Lockout is OVER! It took 149 days of being locked out from playing games, or even entering a training facility, but the NBA Lockout is now over.
What is the new deal that the NBA players and owners agreed to? The deal is for 10 years, although both sides have the option of opting out after six years. The players will make no higher than 51 percent of the revenue, which is down from 57 percent. This difference would account for nearly $3 billion over the length of the deal.
This new deal still is pending final approval of the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), but a truncated 66-game NBA regular season should be starting on Christmas Day. On Christmas, five NBA games will be played, and televised on TNT, ABC, ESPN, and two others to be announced later.
The 2012 NBA season will extend games to April 26th, 2012, and the NBA Playoffs will begin two days after that. There is a possibility of back-to-back games during the second round of the NBA Playoffs, with each team having at least one, but no more than three back-to-back-to-back games during the regular season.
All NBA teams will play 48 conference games and 18 nonconference games. Teams will not travel to every NBA arena.
December 9th marks the day free agents will be able to begin signing contracts.
Interesting NBA Lockout money fact:
Financial analysts predicted that the shoe industry would lose $500 million if the NBA Lockout had continued and cancelled the entire season! Wow! How many shoes do these guys go through!? That is a crazy amount of shoes!
Ouch, some of the pains of the Lockout are that some players went to play overseas in China, and the Chinese Basketball Association is not showing any inclination to let those NBA players out of their contracts before the end of the season in March! The player that went to play in Spain, Turkey and France are able to come back to play in the NBA season.
Overall, it seems like all is in order for the NBA to start their games soon. We'll see how fans respond. Do you think people will attend games, or do you think fans will be leary at first?
The Minneapolis Target Center will host Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music from Wednesday January 11, 2012 through Sunday January 15, 2012. There are a total of ten shows ranging in time from 10:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. There is sure to be a time that will work for you and your little ones! 
