(ATR) The secretary general of the International Basketball Federation tells Around the Rings the presumptive end to the NBA lockout "can only be good news" for his sport.
"We look forward to seeing the players getting back out on the court and doing what they do best," says Patrick Baumann, stressing to ATR that he cannot be too committal because the work stoppage is not yet officially over.
Representatives of the league on one hand and the National Basketball Players Association on the other announced early Saturday morning a tentative agreement on the heels of a final 15-hour bargaining marathon.
Should a new Collective Bargaining Agreement follow as expected, the labor dispute will end at 149 days and allow for an abbreviated schedule beginning Dec. 25 with 66 games instead of the usual 82.
"We look forward to opening on Christmas Day," NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday during a brief news conference.
According to the tentative agreement between players and owners, the regular season will come to a close April 26 with playoffs beginning two days later and ending at the latest on June 26.
That’s roughly a week later than the NBA usually runs and a month before the London Olympics open, a fact USA Basketball communications chief Craig Miller says isn’t lost on his national governing body.
"We’re always delighted to see the NBA return to action and offer basketball fans around the world the opportunity to see the best players play," he tells ATR.
"In terms of our preparations, we have pretty much proceeded with our plans all along anyway, so it had very little impact to this point."
USA Basketball, in fact, never harbored any real concerns about the NBA lockout potentially hampering the quality of competition presentat the Summer Games, according to Miller.
That stands in contrast to Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski’s recent concerns about a salvaged NBA season infringing upon the Olympic training period should scheduling officials choose to extend the traditional league calendar.
Because the proposed schedule only does so by about a week, however, Miller says he expects Coach K to stick with the original plan of assembling his 12-man team in early July for precise 2-hour daily practices just as he did prior tothe Beijing Olympics.
"It’s possible some of our players will have less rest than would be desired, but it’s probably going to affect players from other countries as well," he explains, adding that NBA players who didn’t take their talents overseas during the lockout are enjoying an offseason several months longer than usual.
Asked about the strength of the dozen ballers he anticipates will suit up for Team USA next year, Miller tells ATR the entire "Redeem Team" that won gold in Beijing and all 12 of the players from last year’s FIBA World Championship squad have indicated they want to play, as have others.
"While the challenge for us is to select the best team possible," he says, "we certainly feel confident that we have great talent available."
Written byMatthew Grayson.
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