In this file photo taken on March 12, 2020, an NBA logo is shown at the 5th Avenue NBA store in New York City. Jeenah Moon Getty Images North America via AFP
NEW YORK -- The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association said Saturday they had agreed terms on a new collective bargaining agreement that ESPN reported would last for seven years.
The deal, which must still be ratified by players and team governors, was announced the day after a Friday deadline was extended by negotiators as they tried to hammer out a contract that would prevent the NBA from opting out of the current agreement at the end of the 2022-23 season.
In a brief statement the league and union said only that "specific details will be made available once a term sheet is finalized".
However, ESPN, citing unnamed sources, said the new deal could see a long-discussed in-season tournament, similar to cup competitions familiar in European football, begin as early as next season.
According to ESPN, pool play in the tournament would be "baked into the regular season schedule starting in November before the top eight move into a single elimination tournament".
Other notable points according to ESPN include a second "salary cap apron" that would further penalize teams that bust the salary cap, a bid to curb the highest-spending clubs.
Individual player awards such as Most Valuable Player will now have a 65-game minimum for eligibility.
Meanwhile TheAthletic.com reported that marijuana, now legal in many US states, will be removed from the league's drug testing program.
In fact, although marijuana hadn't been officially eliminated from the list of substances in the league's anti-drug program, the NBA suspended random testing for it during competition in the 2020 Covid-protective "bubble" and has not since resumed it.
© Agence France-Presse