Derek Fisher, Eddy Curry: Players who may never play if the next NBA season gets cancelled (Part 1)
When the 2010-11 season ended, the four time NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal finally announced his retirement after he failed to get fully recovered from injuries. Shaq though was not the only famous player, who announced his retirement
at the close of the last season; the list also included Zydrunas Ilgauskas of the Miami Heat.
However, there are numerous players in the league who either belong to the same age group or are even older than Ilgauskas and Shaq, but are still looking to play a year or two more. The NBA Lockout and the cancellation of the
next season because of it can however seriously hurt their plans.
Here is the list of the probables players who wouldn’t be able to step on the court if the next season gets cancelled.
Derek Fisher
The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) President Derek Fisher is at the top in this category. The 6 ft 1 starting point guard of the Los Angeles Lakers has been in the league from 1996 and has been a part of different
NBA teams, especially the Lakers.
However, Fisher is now 37 years old and way past his prime. The fact was brutally exposed in the playoffs last season, when Derek failed to neutralize his counterparts in the both the rounds of the playoffs. The Lakers now need
fresh legs at the position and both of their draft picks this season only strengthen that point of view.
Additionally, Fisher had just one more season left on his contract with the Lakers, after which can exercise his $3.4 million player option, but until then he will be 38 years old. The 210 pound player is also facing a hard time
in negotiating a deal with the franchise owners, and none of them will be kind with him once he hits the free agency.
Bearing all these facts in mind, there is a high possibility that Fisher may announce his retirement if the next season is cancelled.
Eddy Curry
This list also includes the 28 year old former centre of the New York Knicks, Eddy Curry, the centre who has drawn interest from the likes of Miami Heat. However, if they do not rope him in, it may spell and end to his career in
NBA.
Apart from his strange behaviour and fitness issues in the past, Curry also lacks work ethics and therefore no one knows yet in what shape he’ll be once the lockout settles down. However, the thing that could hurt him more than
anything else would be the annulment of the next basketball season.
Even if Curry somehow manages to stay in shape during this work stoppage the annulment of the next season will make his small number of suitors disappear. Therefore, there is a high probability that Curry may join this list of
players, who may not step on the hardwood if the league cancels the next season.
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