NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter is “pleased overall while still reserving judgment about the game in the aftermath of the prolonged lockout,” according to Kyle Hightower of the AP. Hunter said, "Obviously the TV ratings are up. The attendance is up. Merchandising is up. So all the signs are positive." Hunter said that the union is “waiting to see the first official revenue figures from the league.” Hightower reported early indications are the players “will be pleased with what they eventually see.” Hunter said that he is “not at all surprised that the league has been able to rebound so swiftly after a contentious summer.” Hunter: "I believed that the electricity was in the air and what was going to happen was the same thing that happened to football. (There was) just a groundswell of support when the NFLPA and NFL got their deal. Everybody was concerned of whether there would be a problem or downturn, and it didn't happen” (AP, 2/25).
CLOSE CALL: CBSSPORTS.com’s Ken Berger wrote the ‘11-12 NBA season “almost perished, and based on accounts from people "on both sides of the negotiations, the 2011-12 season was all but pronounced dead" the night of Nov. 25. Wizards G and NBPA VP Maurice Evans said, "It was almost a wrap quite a few times. Numerous times, both parties almost ended it. But each time, it was a last-ditch effort by someone to keep us together" (CBSSPORTS.com, 2/26). In Boston, Gary Washburn wrote NBA Commissioner David Stern “wished negotiations with the Players Association had been more effective during the summer.” Stern: “To me, the only positive was that we got a season which was in danger of not being and that we changed the outlook for the league dramatically, both as a competitive matter and as a financial matter” (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/25).
