July 1, 2011: The lockout begins. September 23, 2011: The NBA canceled training camp, which was to begin October 3, and the first week of preseason games, which were to run October 9 through 15. October 4, 2011: The NBA canceled the remainder of the preseason. October 10, 2011: The first two weeks of the regular season canceled. October 18, 2011: All games through November 30 canceled. November 14, 2011: The NBPA dissolves labor union into a trade association. November 15, 2011: The NBA canceled all games through December 15. Players filed antitrust lawsuits against the NBA in Chicago and New Mexico federal courts. November 26, 2011: The NBA owners and players reached a tentative agreement to end the lockout. December 1, 2011: The NBPA re-formed as a union. December 8, 2011: The new CBA is ratified, officially ending the lockout. December 25, 2011: NBA season begins. Background After the previous lockout, which shortened the from 82 to 50 games, a six-year deal between the owners, led by commissioner David Stern, and the players, led by director Billy Hunter and president Patrick Ewing of the labor union National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), was reached. As the CBA was set to expire on June 30, 2005, the two sides began to negotiate in early 2005. There were several issues obstructing the new agreement, which included adding an age limit for rookies, toughening the existing drug-testing program and limiting the length of long-term contracts. However, negotiations went smoothly and the two sides were able to reach a deal in June 2005, avoiding the lockout. That deal guaranteed players 57 percent of basketball-related income (BRI) and lasted for six years, until June 30, 2011. A year after signing the deal, eight owners signed a petition requesting Stern address the disparity between small-market and large-market teams. They wrote that "the hard truth is that our current economic system works only for larger-market teams and a few teams that have extraordinary success ...The rest of us are looking at significant and unacceptable annual financial losses." Derek Fisher succeeded Ewing as NBPA president in 2006. In early 2011, negotiations on a new CBA began. The league claimed that it was losing $300 million a year (22 out of 30 teams were losing money last season) and proposed to reduce 40% of players' salary (about $800 million) and institute a hard salary cap (at $45 million per