As Lockout Looms, Grant Hill gives pointers to players – NBA Update
The NBA labour dispute shows no sign of ending any time soon. With the current CBA expiring on June 30, the league is headed inexorably towards a work stoppage. The players and owners, although still willing to negotiate, are all
strapped to brace for a lockout.
With the lockout now seemingly inevitable, people are preparing themselves for it. One such person is the Phoenix Suns veteran Grant Hill. Hill recently spoke about the lockout and how a player should tackle the situation, especially
concerning his fitness,
“It’s tough, especially for an older guy,” Hill said. “You got certain benchmarks you try to reach in the offseason to get ready for training camp. You could do too much or do too little just in terms of staying in shape, staying
sharp.”
Grant Hill of course knows all about lockout as he was playing when the league last went into it, back in 1998-1999 season. Hill was on the roster of the Detroit Pistons who had drafted him as the 3rd overall pick in
1994. He left to join the Orlando Magic in 2000 and joined current side, the Phoenix Suns in the summer of 2007.
The player told reporters that it is a fine balance to keep during a lockout and even the highly paid NBA stars need to be careful with their finances during the period. The uncertainty and overall confusion that the lockout will
bring requires the players to be really smart.
Hill said he had given advice to younger players, who had not been in a lockout before and said the players were taking it seriously and asking the right questions,
“You want to stay in shape. You want to stay mentally and physically ready. You want to be wise with purchases and you want to make sure financially you can weather the storm. The young guys have been really good in terms of asking
[questions].” Hill said.
The league and players are at a crossroads with regards to negotiations over the new CBA and a lockout became the most likely outcome after the last meeting between the two parties. The NBA owners were expecting the players to
make some new proposals during the meeting but the players decided not to do so, saying they had already made enough concessions.
The players have offered to roll back salaries by $500 million over the next four years but the owners seemingly want more. The key issues in the labour dispute are salary roll backs, BRI (Basketball Related Income) division and
are harder salary cap.
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