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Hoop, Hoop, Hooray!

It was like sinking the winning shot at the sound of the buzzer. Just one day before the season would have been canceled, professional basketball players and National Basketball Association team owners worked out a deal to save the season. They agreed last week to allow NBA games to begin next month--three months late. Because play won't begin until February 5, there will be only 50 games instead of the usual 82. Hoops fans rejoiced. "The nightmare is over," said New York Knicks fan and movie director Spike Lee. "I'm ready to get back to the game."

Since last summer, owners and players have been fighting over how to divide the $2 billion the league earns each year. Owners wanted to limit how much a player could make with something called a salary cap. And guess what? Players didn't like that. They argued that they should be paid as much as the market would allow. Both sides dug in their heels, and a 66-day lockout began. (A lockout is like a strike, except that it's the owners who refuse to allow the players to work, instead of the players refusing to work.)

To end the lockout, NBA commissioner David Stern and the players association head Billy Hunter met in a New York City hotel last Tuesday. They stayed up all night bargaining. By morning, they had a deal.

The new agreement will save owners money by capping yearly salaries at $14 million, except for certain star veterans such as Michael Jordan, who made $33 million last season. It will help new players by raising minimum salaries.

Will Jordan turn up for the brief '99 season? Stay tuned. But just about everyone else is itching to begin. Says Laker Shaquille O'Neal: "It's just time to start playing again."

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