It sure looks like there won’t be any labor-related work stoppages around the National Basketball Association anytime soon. In what has to be considered a major surprise, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo’s The Vertical is reporting that the NBA and NBPA are close to a new collective bargaining agreement.
“After a Wednesday meeting in New York, the National Basketball Association and National Basketball Players Association have pushed close to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement,” Wojnarowski reported.
This would be an absolute coup for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who remains the most popular single figure leading a sports league in the world today.
It would also represent a tremendous victory for NBAPA executive director Michele Roberts, who continues to do amazing things with the union she’s tasked with heading.
It was just a short while ago that a work stoppage following the 2016-17 season, when both sides can opt out of the current 10-year CBA, seemed imminent. The deadline for an opt out is mid-December. Though, it seems to be more procedural than anything else.
“The NBA and its union will avoid a possible work stoppage in 2017. The NBA and NBPA have the ability to opt out of the current 10-year deal on Dec. 15, but a new agreement will be in place before then,” the NBA insider continued.
Among the most hotly-contested issues at hand was the revenue share for basketball related income. That now appears to be unchanged in the new agreement, with the players receiving 49-to-51 percent of the share.