At 3:15 a.m. on Saturday morning, Twitter damn-near exploded. Suddenly seven of the nine trending topics in the U.S. were about the NBA. There was “Kobe Bryant” and “#teamheat” and “Mike Brown” and “David Stern”—even “Phil Jackson” made the list. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see “Nikola Pekovic” pop up at that rate.

Casual fans may not have cared that the NBA was gone, but they certainly cared that it was back, which is a perfectly reasonable way to look at things if you’re more of a baseball or football or soccer fan. Those in the hoops media, meanwhile, couldn’t contain themselves.

It’s here that I’ve got to point you in the direction of ESPN Daily Dime Live blogger Zach Harper’s feed. There was adulation I could only compare to a kid finding out Christmas was coming twice this year, just on the same day. Harper might have been the most vocal, but he wasn’t a lone wolf. There were other media members. CBS Sports’ Ken Berger broke the story with aplomb. Collective-barganing specialist Larry Coon offered insight into the deal.

Still, there’s not enough NBA media to create one trending topic on Twitter, let alone seven. The fans were in full force. If you weren’t one, you were left behind. 

Please check your cynicism at the door. It’s Saturday morning. #nbaisback