Derrick Williams speaks about his lockout nightmare – NBA Update
Derrick Williams, the number two pick in this year’s draft, is not pleased with the current labour dispute that has caused the league to go into lockout. The player came to NBA, dreaming of competing with the best basketball players
in the world, but now just has to sit around and wait, and Williams revealed he would rather have not come to the league at all.
Derrick Williams was the standout player in the NCAA tournament last year and was thus coveted by many teams around the NBA. The Minnesota Timberwolves secured the exciting youngster when they picked him second overall in the 2011
NBA Draft.
Although Williams said he was delighted to be part of an NBA franchise, the lockout has taken a lot of shine off his moment. The player, like everyone else, doesn’t know when the NBA season will begin, or if it will take place
at all, and he said the wait was just killing him.
Many other top prospects touted for this year’s draft decided not to join league and continue their education in college in view of the labour dispute and Williams said he could have done the same,
“Yeah. If they told me I was going to miss all 82 games next season I would have stayed in college and enjoyed myself and enjoyed all of my teammates and everybody else who is involved with Arizona. I definitely would have went
back.”
The wait is particularly frustrating for the player because his future depends on the outcome, yet he is not really “in” on the situation. Williams cannot be part of any negotiating process as he isn’t a part of the players union
yet. The player doesn’t have a contract signed yet and therefore is not considered eligible for the union.
The fact that his contract has been delayed due to the lockout has also impacted the player financially. He has however signed a major endorsement deal with Under Armour that definitely would have provided relief on the monetary
front.
In the interview, Williams spoke of the endorsement deal, as well as how it has been to make the transition from college to the NBA,
“It’s similar to going from high school to college and just going through that whole process again. It is really similar. You have all of these companies wanting to wear their product and it’s up to you. I felt like, like I told
Arizona, I felt like this was the best fit and the best company for myself and my family.”
At the moment, Derrick Williams is keeping busy as he heads to the Philippines to be part of two exhibition games featuring major NBA super stars.
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