Former NHL star Dave Andreychuk urges NBA players to sign a deal
It has always been said that take your elders advice whenever you get in trouble. The 48 years old Dave Andreychuk has a piece of advice for the National Basketball Association (NBA) players - don't make things worse and accept
the last offer of the owners otherwise you will lose pretty badly.
Andreychuk is a former ice hockey player, who remained a part of the National Hockey League for a long time and last represented Tampa Bay Lightning. His professional career came to an end in early 2006. However before retiring,
he witnessed the 2004-05 lockout in NHL and therefore has this to say to the NBA players.
“If players think it’s better to sit out the season, let me tell (you), it’s not. It’s just not,” Andreychuk says. “In the end, it will be worse.”
The former Lightning captain said that when the NHL owners demanded big changes in their Collective Bargaining Agreement, players found it quite insulting and rejected their call after which the league imposed the lockout. Initially
all NHL players were unified against the owners, but it didn't take long for their unity to vanish because of dissimilar financial needs. There were some players that had enough money and could have survived the lockout and few went abroad in order to earn
less cash from minor leagues.
However, there were many, who at that point in time didn't have enough money to take care of their families and themselves. So, the players got divided into different groups.
“As the pressure built — after a month, two months, three months — it started to sink in,” recalls Andreychuk. “Guys were saying to themselves, ‘I’m 25 years old and hockey is how I make my living. We need to get a deal done.’
”
The result was that the NHL players overthrew union's head Bob Goodenow and brought Ted Saskin in his place, who was given a very simple task: Sign a deal, any deal and sign it NOW.
As a result of the late action, the players had to sign a deal which was even lower that the one initially proffered.
Although the activities were resumed again in the league, but NHL players lost millions in terms of salary. The other thing that struck the league pretty badly was the lost fan base.
Andreychuk now fears that the situation of the NBA players is quite similar to the one he and his colleague faced in 04-05.
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