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Bench Warmer
It's a done deal: The regular NBA refs will be back for the start of the regular season.
A nearly monthlong lockout of the league's 57 referees effectively ended Friday night when the referees, according to a league source, approve the collective bargaining deal that was agreed to in principle Tuesday on a voice vote.
Approval was expected after commissioner David Stern and referees' lead negotiator Lamell McMorris, both of whom had previously withdrawn from the talks, re-entered the negotiations and brokered the final settlement in a meeting at the NBA's New York headquarters.
The referees will conduct a brief training camp in New Jersey this weekend before receiving their assignments for the start of the regular season, which begins Tuesday night with four games.
A crew of replacement referees wearing triple-digit jersey numbers officiated the entire preseason after talks between the refs' union and league officials broke down.
The NBA believed it had a deal on the eve of the preseason when McMorris shook hands on a tentative agreement and said he would urge its approval, but the refs voted 43-14 to reject the deal after one member of the referees' executive board, Bill Spooner, switched his vote to swing a 3-2 executive board recommendation that the agreement be rejected. Following that vote, McMorris -- who also is currently negotiating a collective bargaining agreement for Major League Baseball's umpires -- announced he was withdrawing from the negotiations.
A nearly monthlong lockout of the league's 57 referees effectively ended Friday night when the referees, according to a league source, approve the collective bargaining deal that was agreed to in principle Tuesday on a voice vote.
Approval was expected after commissioner David Stern and referees' lead negotiator Lamell McMorris, both of whom had previously withdrawn from the talks, re-entered the negotiations and brokered the final settlement in a meeting at the NBA's New York headquarters.
The referees will conduct a brief training camp in New Jersey this weekend before receiving their assignments for the start of the regular season, which begins Tuesday night with four games.
A crew of replacement referees wearing triple-digit jersey numbers officiated the entire preseason after talks between the refs' union and league officials broke down.
The NBA believed it had a deal on the eve of the preseason when McMorris shook hands on a tentative agreement and said he would urge its approval, but the refs voted 43-14 to reject the deal after one member of the referees' executive board, Bill Spooner, switched his vote to swing a 3-2 executive board recommendation that the agreement be rejected. Following that vote, McMorris -- who also is currently negotiating a collective bargaining agreement for Major League Baseball's umpires -- announced he was withdrawing from the negotiations.
