But after all that, why now?

Because the calendar became the real pressure.

That’s not what the sides were saying afterwards.

“The reason for the settlement is the fans, the players who would like to play, we’ve got others who are dependent on us,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern. “Our goal was to reach a deal that was fair to both sides and got us playing as soon as possible.”

“Rather than pursue this in court, it was in both of our interests to compromise,” said Billy Hunter of the NBA players association.

But this was more about the pressure of the calendar making it time to get a deal done.

Both sides had said from the start that they understood the momentum the league gained last season, with television ratings the highest they had been since the Jordan era as just one sign of that. There was a real energy to build off of — and to grow revenues.

via Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk