Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry upset over NBA lockout - for the fans
Jason Terry, the Dallas Mavericks talisman, hates the NBA lockout. Not only for himself though, but also for the fans – apparently.
Terry and the Mavericks won the NBA World Championship for the first time in their history last season, with star power forward Dirk Nowitzki leading the way. The win culminated a long journey for owner Mark Cuban and veterans
like Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion.
However, their plans of building on the success and bringing more joy to the fans in Dallas have hit a snag with the NBA lockout, which is in its 5th month and threatening to devour the whole season.
Things got from bad to worse on Monday when the National Basketball Players Association rejected an ultimatum by NBA Commissioner David Stern. The union also filed for decertification and have since sued the NBA owners in federal
courts.
Terry just can’t get his head round to how the two sides got here.
"I hate where it's gone right now. It sucks for us because of what we accomplished this last season," Terry said, referring to his 2010-11 NBA championship with the Mavs, after which the team held a large rally to celebrate in
the city. "It sucks for our fans and everyone that works at the arena. And it sucks for me because I want to be playing."
Terry, who is Dallas’ team representative in the NBPA, knew that they had to take the drastic step of decertification because of un-paralleled greed from the owners and Stern. For his NBA colleagues, Terry had a simple message.
"Stand strong, stand together,"
He laid the blame for the NBA’s current predicament squarely at the door of the owners. He said the players were not the greedy party, they had agreed to give over $ 250 million to the owners, but the owners’ lust for money could
not be satisfied.
NBA players just want to be able to go out and play.
"We hear a lot about the players are greedy. It's not that," Terry said Saturday night while taking part in Josh Howard's charity basketball game in Dallas. "The players just want to go out and play the game they love under fair
terms."
Terry will be taking a big personal hit if the season is cancelled. The veteran guard is at the end of his contract with the Mavericks and was pencilled in to earn over $11 million next season, which could now turn to nothing as
the season crumbles.
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