The National Basketball Association's referees will be back on the job in time for the start of the regular season after agreeing to a new contract Friday. Union brass and the NBA agreed to a two-year deal which ended a lockout and averted the prospect of the league having to use replacement officials on opening day. The deal was put together earlier in the week and was approved in a vote Friday. Details of the vote were not released. “We are pleased to reach this agreement,” NBA commissioner David Stern said. “The negotiations extended further than either side had hoped, but when our regular season tips off Tuesday we'll have the best referees in the world officiating our games.” The NBA has been using replacement officials during pre-season games who have come under much criticism. Stern said the regular refs will begin training camp this weekend and so they can be up to speed for Tuesday's season opening games. The NBA rejected an offer from the referee's union before announcing Sept. 18 they would be locking out the refs. The previous contract expired at the beginning of September. The two sides met this week for talks and then Stern was brought in. Jamison to miss opener Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison could miss up to six weeks because of the lingering effects of a shoulder injury, the NBA team announced Friday. The Wizard's top scorer Jamison suffered the injury during an Oct. 14 preseason win against Cleveland. The two-time all-star was originally expected to be back in the lineup for the season opener Oct. 27 in Dallas but the club now says he will miss four to six weeks with a subluxation of the right shoulder. Jamison averaged a team-high 22.2 points in 81 games last season for the Washington.
