LeBron James joyous at the end of the NBA Lockout
LeBron James was in New York on Wednesday for some philanthropic work and the forward spoke of his delight at the impending end to the NBA lockout.
The Miami Heat super star, flanked by teammate Dwyane Wade and fellow All-Stars Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul, said it was a real joy to know the 5 month long ordeal was finally coming to an end.
"I'm just excited personally not only for myself and my team, but for the fans," James said, as reported by ESPN. "I'm thankful that we've been able to get this resolved and the fans can get back to watching the game that they
love."
Journalist present on the occasion wanted to know about what the future had in store for the 4 super stars. There has been talk of Miami acquiring another big name in the free agency to complement their already formidable Big Three
of Dwyane Wade, LeBron and Chris Bosh. Rumours have also been ride about a possible link up between Chris Paul and Carmelo at the New York Knicks.
James however kept the focus on the lockout and what a relief it was to be finally seeing the end of it. He said he wasn’t just pleased for the players, but also for the fans and for the many arena workers and other support staff
who had their livelihoods put on hold because of the lockout.
"As far as the ins and outs about the deal, we won't discuss today," James said. "We're going to discuss about how excited I am, how excited we are, about the game of basketball being back and about all the people who have been
out of jobs and the fans who have been out of watching basketball for the 140-plus days from the lockout. It's a great moment for all of us."
The lockout began on July 1st after the old Collective Bargaining Agreement expired. The NBA owners and the National Basketball Players Association had been negotiating for a new one for over a year, but weren’t able
to get it done in time.
Differences grew over the summer as the labour dispute refused to go quietly, with both sides often complaining about unfair demands of the other to media outlets.
In the end, it took class action lawsuits by players against the owners that brought the like of David Stern, the NBA Commissioner who had earlier issued an ultimatum and refused to negotiate, to come to the table in earnest and
iron out a deal.
The players have made most of the sacrifices for a deal to get done, but did get some relief on system issues at the end. If the deal is ratified by both parties, the NBA season could start on Christmas day.
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