Hours after announcing a lockout of NBA players, the league lifted the ban today, clearing the way for free agent signings to begin on Thursday.
Both sides had worked through the night on finalizing their collective bargaining agreement, but a sudden snag developed over $50 million in profit sharing from the league's TV contracts."Money issues are usually open to compromise, and a satisfactory amount of that television money will be included in the cap," said union attorney Jeffrey Kessler. "Both sides agree there are no more open issues."
A moratorium on free agent signings will continue until Thursday at 3 p.m. MDT. At that time, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Reggie Miller and about 150 other free agents will be able to consider offers from other teams.
In a statement, the league said both it and the union were confident that a new agreement could be finalized by the Thursday deadline.
Although the moratorium prohibits negotiations with or offers to free agents, normal team operations can continue, including summer leagues for rookies and veterans.
The NBA imposed a lockout this morning after contract talks with the players' union broke down.
The union wanted the money from profit-sharing to be included in salary cap calculations, and the league refused. The union rejected an offer to extend the eight-day moratorium on signings, trades and negotiations, and the talks broke off.
The $50 million that was in dispute came from profit sharing with NBC and TNT, the league's two TV rights holders. Once the networks recoup the $750 million they paid for broadcast rights, the resulting profits are shared.
The dispute arose when the league insisted that 50 percent of those profits be applied toward player salaries and the unioncontended that 100 percent be included.
It was unclear how the money would be divided in the final agreement.
Alonzo Mourning, Juwan Howard, Gary Payton and Dennis Rodman are also among the players eligible to become free agents.
Last summer, a three-month work lockout was imposed. It ended when the players voted to ratify a modified labor deal rather than decertify the union.
The agreement remained unsigned, however, while the two sides argued over details, and the league threatened a lockout for July 1 if the differences couldn't be resolved.
That led to four straight days of talks that produced an agreement on all remaining disputed issues, and an eight-day moratorium was put in place until the labor deal could be completed.