The season ended with the Chicago Bulls defeating the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals: to win the franchise's 5th championship.
The 1996 NBA lockout was the second lockout of four in the history of the NBA. It took place on July 10, 1996. The lockout was imposed after the league and the players union could not reach an agreement involving $50 million in profit sharing from television revenue. The league requested 50 percent of the profits be applied toward player salaries while the union pushed for a larger share. After a few hours of talks, the league agreed to allocate an additional $14 million per season in television revenue toward the salary cap during the last four years of the six-year collective bargaining agreement. The agreement ending the lockout was announced a few hours after the lockout began.