From the Desk of the Commissioner

We received an email blast from 'the desk' of NBA Commissioner David Stern earlier this evening. We thought that posting it might be a nice way to bring some closure to our coverage of the league's labor dispute. It follows in its entirety:

Dear Fans,

On behalf of the entire NBA family, I want to thank you for your patience and support over the past several months. The new collective bargaining agreement is designed to provide more competitive balance for our league, reward strong performances by our players, and strengthen our game by improving its economics. We believe this agreement will benefit our teams, players, and most importantly, fans by making the NBA stronger.

In the days and weeks ahead, all of us hope you will enjoy the run-up to the start of the season: free agency, training camp, and preseason games. Each NBA team will be hosting special events for fans, so be sure to check your favorite team's website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed for details. This season we look forward to bringing you more of everything you love about NBA basketball: incredible competition, tremendous excitement, and unending hard work and dedication by the world's best athletes.

Thank you for being an NBA fan. I hope you enjoy the season, which promises to be a most exciting one.