The NBA is apparently closer to returning to court, and finally, it's the basketball court.
According to multiple reports, a meeting lasting roughly 15 hours has resulted in NBA owners and the disbanded players association reaching a tentative agreement to end the lockout.
The work stoppage has lasted 148 days despite several marathon negotiating sessions between the parties. The stakes were raised earlier this week when the players combined a pair of antitrust lawsuits against the NBA in two different states into the same court in Minnesota.
Any talks had to be settlement negotiations to end the suit, meaning the late night dealings were between the league and the attorneys for the players. If the lawsuits are resolved, which the reports have indicated is highly likely, a new collective bargaining agreement could be on the horizon.
The NBPA filed a disclaimer of interest, disbanding as a union back on November 14 after rejecting the owners' latest offer of a 50-50 split of basketball-related revenue.
The league had canceled all regular season games up to December 15, and it was feared the highly-anticipated Christmas Day schedule was in jeopardy of never coming to fruition.
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