Amar’e Stoudemire insists players want an end to NBA lockout
New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire has made it clear once more that the players did not impose the lockout and do not want it to continue. The lockout was enforced by NBA on July 1st after the league and the players
union failed to reach an accord on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) – an agreement that governs the financial system of the league.
So far, this deadlock has cost the league the training camps, the pre-season and now the first two weeks of regular season games.
The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and the owners, led by NBA Commissioner David Stern, have been engaged in negotiations for a year and a half now, but so far no progress has been made. After the games were cancelled
on Monday, there is a serious threat of the next NBA season being cancelled.
Stoudemire however insists that the NBPA have made a lot of compromises and are striving to get basketball started again. However, their efforts have not been met in kind by the owners. He stressed that players want to get things
started as soon as possible, in an interview on ESPN.
"We don't want to lose games at all, man," Stoudemire said. "It's something that we just really don't want to do. We want to play and play now. Obviously we can't due to the circumstances so; you never know what the future holds."
The principle issues in the labour dispute are the Basketball Related Income (BRI) and Salary Cap. Both sides are miles apart on these issue and these are not the only issues they have differences over.
Amar’e admitted in the interview that things do look bleak, but he also expressed a resolve to keep working in order to find a way around the pit falls.
"I think we're pretty far apart, but the most important part is that we're trying to work to get something done," Stoudemire said Tuesday "There are so many jobs at stake; their livelihoods are on the line. We'll get a deal done
eventually."
The two sides have met extensively over the last month and engaged each other regularly to get a deal done. When NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that he will cancel games if there was no deal by Monday, the owners and players
met for over 12 hours in two days to try and resolve things, but to no avail.
The situation now presents a deadlock, and one side would have to give in order for the other to move. Which side takes the initiative first is what remains to be seen.
Tags: