Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett bashes NBA owners; says he doesn’t trust them – Lockout News
Boston Celtics super star Kevin Garnett came down hard on NBA owners during a recent interview. Garnett, frustrated at the lack of progress in the labour negotiations since the league locked out the players, decided to launch a
verbal volley towards the NBA owners.
Garnett and many other NBA stars have been increasingly vocal with their displeasure over how the NBA and the owners have handled the labour dispute so far. The players believe the owners demands are outright unfair and have so
far stood together in the face of the league imposed NBA lockout.
Whilst most players have so far complained that the owners have made unrealistic demands from the players in their proposal for a new CBA, and some have questioned whether NBA Commissioner David Stern is serious about finding a
solution for the ongoing dispute, Garnett went a step further.
The former Minnesota Timberwolves power forward said in the interview that he flat out did not trust the owners and refused to say he believed they even intended to save the next NBA season.
“You trust no one in this to be honest. You trust the players because we all are communicating. But you never trust the other side, you know, because you don’t know what they’re thinking, and you don’t want them to know what you’re
thinking. You’re trying to come to some sort of common ground which makes sense going forward.”
Garnett was asked whether in his view the owners really wanted to see an NBA season for 2011-2012 and the players remarks weren’t very encouraging,
“I don’t know. I’m not on the owners’ side. I don’t know what they want.”
While this may come as another in a long line of disappointing revelations for NBA fans, most analysts are already aware of the huge trust deficit between the two sides.
Negotiations for a new CBA were formally started more than a year and a half ago, but progress has been almost non-existent. The owners seem hurt by the losses they have suffered over the last few years, around $300 million for
last season alone, and they are determined to thrash out a CBA that guarantees them large profits for the next ten years or so.
The players recognize the need for change, but they advocate a more controlled and balanced approach. The National Basketball Players Association currently holds the view that the league’s proposal takes too much away from NBA
players.
The two sides have remained firm on their stances so far and things are starting to become desperate as the new season draws closer. We can expect more fireworks from the players as the loss of games becomes more and more certain
with each passing day, while behind the scene the owners will also be fretting over projected loss in revenues.
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