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NBA Settlement Comes As Welcome News To Local Businesses

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The proposed NBA settlement is good news for restaurants and other businesses near Staples Center that rely on potential business from the nearly 19,000 basketball fans who fill the arena.

There were a lot of empty tables Saturday afternoon at Lawry's Carvery in the L.A. LIVE entertainment center.

Economists say waiters, bartenders and shop owners depend on the income generated by games at Staples Center.

"On the slowest night it's like a dead zone. It was really a dead zone, but, you know, we got through it, it was a hump and we had to get over it. We did it and now it's game time," said manager Jeffrey Brown, who said he did not have to lay off any workers, but many had their hours cut back.

Brown said the lockout's impact was not as bad as he expected, because concerts and other events helped fill some of the gap.

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