Just after we added the NBA to our “biggest turkeys of the year” list it looks like they might get removed.  After two years of negotiation and 149 days of a lockout it looks like the NBA owners and players have come to a tentative agreement to start the 2011 NBA season.

The details of the deal were not disclosed but it appears that there is a handshake deal in place that would allow for the playing of a 66-game schedule that would include the crucial Christmas Day games that fans have come to expect every year.

The two sides had a secret meeting earlier this week and had a 15 hour marathon session that appears to have culminated in a deal that can be accepted by both big and small market owners.  Although there has not been any report on the satisfaction of the players with the deal it appears that they will give the thumbs up to the deal as well. ''We thought it was in both of our interest to try to reach a resolution and save the game,'' union executive director Billy Hunter said. 

It remains to be seen whether fans will return in droves to the game that seemed to be picking up a lot of new fans toward the end of last season.   The emergence of the big three, the upstart Mavericks winning a championship, and the emergence of Derrick rose as a bonafide superstar were just some of the many appealing story lines that made the fans hungry for this new season.  Whether people will still be as enthusiastic after this battle between millionaires and billionaires is a question that will apparently be answered on Christmas Day.

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