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I know millions of people were gnashing their teeth at the prospect of the NBA killing off their entire off-season with a lockout. I know children were crying, grown men were begging on their knees, and some families were building underground bunkers in Montana in preparation for the upcoming basketball Armageddon.
Well, fear no more. The sky has parted and God (or in this case, David Stern) is smiling down. The NBA and their players union have agreed to a new deal today, reportedly a six-year pact.
One of the most controversial rumors hovering around the new deal is possibility that the league is going to up its minimum age to 19, meaning every American player dreaming of making the LeBron James leap straight out of high school to the NBA will, in all likelihood, have to find somewhere else to play until they are eligible for the NBA.
Logically, that would mean college for most players, but don't be surprised if more start playing stints with European teams straight out of high school. That could create some of the same signability issues baseball has with its draft picks. Players could start using their contracts with European clubs as leverage when they negotiate with NBA teams. Even if a player wants to go to the NBA, the overseas club could demand a pricey contract buyout from an NBA club. Buyouts, or threats of buyouts, have already come close to hindering the career starts of Yao Ming and Maicej Lampe.
Holdouts and stall tactics have been pleasantly absent from NBA contract negotiating tables, one way the NBA towers over the NFL and baseball. The fact that the NBA has apparently averted a lockout is great, but they might have just given players a way to stall for more money in the process.