Basketball: Players move toward ratifying deal

NEW YORK: NBA players made their first moves toward ratifying a tentative settlement agreement with team owners, starting the process of recertifying their union so they can vote on a new deal. The move came as a group of players who filed an anti-trust lawsuit asked a federal judge to stay any action on the lawsuit while final details of a settlement are being hammered out. An agreement that appears set to end the lockout which began on July 1 must be ratified by the owners and the players, who must first vote to re-establish their union so they can agree to the 10-year deal.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2011.