Isiah Thomas urges NBA players and owners to work out differences
Former Detroit Pistons guard and Basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas has weighed in on the current NBA labour dispute. Thomas urged players and owners during a recent interview to remember that all of them would have to work
out their differences and unite in order to take the game forward.
Thomas has extensive experience of these matters because he served as President of the National Basketball Players Association during his time as a player. The terrific guard was part of the Detroit Pistons “Bad Boys” team that
won two NBA World Championships and Isiah knows what it takes to get the job done on and off the court.
Speaking to the Sun Sentinel, Thomas said that everyone involved with the NBA had a common passion - basketball. It is for this passion that they should unite and work out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) before it is
too late.
"With the lockout," he said, "there's basically no rules, but that doesn't mean that guys still don't want to play. The guys want to play basketball, they love the game and they really play for the love of the game. I just hope
during this period that the players and owners remember what has made this league great, and what has made it great has been the partnership between the owners and the players."
Apart from his time as a player and his involvement with the players union, Thomas has been associated with the NBA most of his life. He took up coaching after retirement as a player and was head coach of the Indiana Pacers as
well as the New York Knicks.
He spent a considerable amount of time in the Knicks front office as well, although that adventure did not turn out well for all parties involved. The fact though remains that he is a man who knows the ins and the outs of the league
and has rightly pointed out the need to recognize the contributions of both players and owners.
Only when a unity and mutual respect is attained by the two warring factions, will a solution be possible. At the moment, things look increasingly bleak as negotiations broke down again on Tuesday.
The NBA had already cancelled the training camps and the preseason games, and as of today, the cancellation of the first two weeks of the next NBA season has become certain. If the owners and players do not heed Isiah’s advice,
and fail to come to an agreement soon enough, the whole NBA season might be beyond saving.
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