Twelve days ago, it didn’t look promising. The NBA Players Association, in a VERY bold move, chose to not only reject the “take it or leave it” offer from the NBA Owners and David Stern; but also to dissolve the union all-together and slap the league with an anti-trust lawsuit. It was a move that could have totally backfired. Taking the negotiating out of the hands of Billy Hunter and David Stern and bringing the battle to the courts could have not only ended this current NBA season, but future NBA seasons. You never know how long these things in the legal system are going to last. It was a dangerous, but ballsy move.

With the move, the players essentially gave David Stern and the owners the middle finger. Out of principle, they took the position that they were willing to lose all of their paychecks as opposed to getting bullied into what they perceived as an awful deal. As a die-hard NBA fan who has followed the lockout from the beginning, I was unbelievably disappointed in the decision. Yet I still couldn’t blame the players for playing the only hand they had left. I too, am a man of principle and will take risky, potentially self-destructive gambles when I feel I’m being taken advantage of. I’m actually where I’m at now professionally because of this; and that’s a good thing.

But a week ago my feelings on the NBA had gone from disappointment to acceptance. We weren’t going to get NBA basketball in 2011-2012. I wasn’t going to get to see the last legitimate year of Boston Celtics contention. I even understood that it was not just possible, but probable that I had watched Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen play their last game of professional basketball together. And that was a very sobering reality.

Then I woke up this morning.

I awoke after a great night sleep. No tossing or turning. I rolled over and saw my beautiful girlfriend already awake checking her phone.

“Morning,” I said.

“Um, my Facebook is blowing up with NBA chatter. You should probably check it out.”

“Oh God.”

I immediately scrambled for my phone. Got on the internet and saw the headline, “Deal is Reached.” It was like a breath of fresh air. A total 180 from what I expected for the NBA just a few days earlier. And this is what the NBA had to do. Not just for the fans. Not just for the players and owners. All of the owners could survive without an NBA. The majority of the players could survive without the NBA. At the end of the day, the owners and players are almost entirely comprised of millionaires. Die-hards like myself would eventually get over not having a season and survive without the NBA.

It’s the guys that fill the popcorn bag at the stadium for a living so they can feed their families that needed this to happen. It’s the bar owners that rely on the game-night crowd to pay the bills that needed this to happen. It’s the local TV stations that need in-game ad revenue that needed this to happen. And maybe most importantly, it’s the young kids that get to watch their favorite athletes after school that needed this to happen.

Assuming the players and owners all vote to accept this deal, and they’d be insane not to, NBA basketball is back. And not a moment too soon. Let’s start playing some games now.