Charlie Villanueva stands by players union in NBA labour dispute – NBA Update
Detroit Pistons star Charlie Villanueva has pledged his support for the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) in the ongoing NBA labour dispute. His comments came after speculation in the media over the unity within NBPA
and whether union President Derek Fisher was negotiating on his own with the NBA.
The NBA and its players have been bickering over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for over a year. When the old one expired, the NBA locked out its players and that lockout is now into its 5th month. A whole
month worth of games have already been cancelled and the way things are going, it seems that more games are going to be cancelled.
Detroit forward Villanueva insisted that it wasn’t the players that were causing the delay in the start of the league, but the owners. If it were up to the players they would be out playing right now but the NBA owners continued
to frustrate them.
"It's definitely frustrating, without a doubt," Villanueva told USAToday, before picking up a bowling ball for his charity, the Charlie Villanueva Foundation. "I want to play. Guys want to play basketball. I've been doing it for
a long time, so I just want to get out there and hoop."
He also reaffirmed the determination of NBA players to stay united in the face of mounting pressure from the league. Villanueva said the NBA players had been warned beforehand by the union that the greedy owners could force them
to miss a whole NBA season.
He remarked that the players had been prepared, and at least he would undergo a season of sitting at home if it benefited the union in a bigger way.
"We are going to stick together, and we're going to make a stand," Villanueva said. "We're going to stick together and try to get the best deal possible. I support the union all the way, and I think most of our guys are taking
that approach, taking that stance.”
"Obviously, you don't want to lose a year. Obviously, I want to play some ball. But if (losing games and pay checks are) what it's going to have to take, I'm prepared for that. I've been preparing for it financial-wise. "
The NBA owners meanwhile do not seem to have any consideration for the many jobs that are at stake because of the labour dispute. The players got 57 percent of the Basketball Related Income under the previous CBA; they have agreed
to lower that to just 52.5 percent. They have also agreed on changes to the salary cap structure alongside many other concessions.
The owners though refuse to move even one inch from their stance. So far in the dispute they have not given the players anything more than they had in the previous CBA, and it is this rigidity of the NBA that caused a collapse
of talks last Friday.
Tags: