Not really. I never entertained any real hope that a settlement would not be reached. One had to know that money & greed would rule the day in the end. It doesn't take 20/20 vision to see that players, who stood to lose an average salary that is 100x what they would be making anywhere else, would eventually come to their senses and sign any agreement placed before them once it became absolutely certain without any doubt that the owners were not going to budge....because even after massive concessions they will still be making many, many times what they should be getting. It is a simple matter to draw up a statement claiming that the owners made some additional concessions somewhere in order for them to save face in the media.....but make no mistake, this was the biggest beatdown in the history of sports labor negotiations since Curt Flood. The sad thing is, as I said, that even after this huge financial defeat, the players will still be obscenely overpaid.
I'm sure that strip clubs, gun shops, tattoo parlors, exotic car dealers and civil defense & paternity attorneys thruout major cities in the country are breathing a sigh of relief. This is definitely an early Christmas present for them.
It really has no effect on me, though. I didn't watch any NBA games before the lockout, and I won't be watching any as a result of it being settled. The biggest affect the NBA has had on me over the last several years is that it has also killed most of my interest in college basketball as well.