Class Act

The Lockout is over - basketball will finally be played stateside. After 149 days and many very late nights, NBA owners and players finally agreed early Saturday morning - fittingly after a 16-hour meeting that finished as dawn approached - to a new labour deal that will have the biggest superstars back playing games at the biggest Arenas around the country right after Christmas. It's been a tiring fortnight for Kobe, Lebron and friends. Saturday's early-morning resolution came only after months of discussions broke off two weeks ago, and the NBA players took the issue from New York hotel ballrooms into federal court. The inequalities that plague the league look set to continue, though the owners as part of the new deal acquiesced a little and softened their stance on "system" issues that they said would help even a playing field among teams that last season saw the Lakers spend $110 million on player payroll and the Sacramento Kings just $45 million.

It is, however, because of both the owners and the players that this turn of events has occurred. This week's Class Act goes to the NBA superstars who have been so heavily criticised in the media - and indeed in this paper: this was wrong.

Players actually stood together against their economic self-interest. Say it was about ego. Say it was about pride. Say it was about fairness. But you can’t say it was about the money. Most NBA careers last eight to ten years: these changes would not have affected the majority, but here was a group of players who were willing to sacrifice a huge payday for the benefit of their future colleagues. Here was a group of people fed up of being lent on and bailling out those in charge. Here was a selection of the richest sportsmen in the world forgoing money in the name of principles. Why? Maybe it’s because they overwhelmingly come from the ranks of the working underprivileged, and have been facing-off against the ranks of true generational, aristocratic wealth in all its arrogance - personified by the snide, oozing contemptuousness of the owners.

Here is the sporting 99 per cent.