NBA's Christmas Gift to Fans? Players and Owners Reach Agreement Over Lockout

The NBA lockout had fans, players, owners and TV networks all worried that there wouldn't be a basketball season at all this year, but it looks like a little early Christmas cheer might have inspired both sides of the dispute to put aside their differences.

News broke earlier today that the NBA's owners and players have come to a tentative agreement, solving disputes over pay and other factors that lead to the current lockout, delaying the season.

If the deal goes through as planned, the NBA season would be shortened to 66 games and would begin on December 25th, Christmas Day, with three televised matchups.

The handshake deal requires that the players drop their lawsuit and reform their union, and includes provisions that require high percentages of salary cap money to go toward payroll. The deal still needs to be ratified by both sides before it's official, but so far things are looking good.

The players have been tweeting their excitement all morning. Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder wrote, "If this is true I am Bouta go wake my mom n grandma up and put on a suit and thunder hat and cry! Please be true #nbaback."

LeBron James took some time to thank the fans, tweeting, "Man I just got up not too long ago and see we have a deal! I feel like my kids on X-mas day! So juiced!! Excited for the fans that stayed patient with us! #NBAlove."

I'm sure, somewhere, Kris Humpries is pretty excited as well, considering that his new career as Kim Kardashian's husband fell through.