Jason Terry wants his NBA World Championship ring – NBA Update
Dallas Mavericks star Jason Terry is upset over the NBA lockout just as other players are, because it’s stopping them from doing what they love to do; play basketball.
Terry though has another reason to be angry with the lockout – the delay in his coronation as a NBA World Champion.
Dallas beat the Miami Heat in last season’s NBA Finals to clinch the World Championship. They held a celebration rally in the city, but the team is yet to get their championship rings. Terry and his colleagues were scheduled to receive those on the 1st of November, when the season usually begins.
The Chicago Bulls were supposed to be their opposition that day and it was something Terry and his teammates were looking forward to throughout the summer. But as fate would have it, it didn’t happen. The first of November came and went, but the lockout remained. And that’s put Terry in a bad mood, not just for himself, but also for the fans.
“I’ve seen a lot of ring designs,” Terry said. “Whenever that day comes, whenever that day might be, it will be another great day. [Opening day] is the day you finally get your rings, and it’s the fans’ day. I was sick for them. You had [Nov. 1] circled on your calendar when the schedule came out. We were playing Chicago, opening night and [Derrick Rose”
“But it’s here and gone. We sorely regret it and wish we can get that day back.”
The lockout really has spoiled the party for Dallas. The National Basketball Players Association, where Terry is the team representative for Dallas, has negotiated with the NBA owners throughout the lockout, but haven’t been able to build consensus over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The whole process took a turn for the worst this month with NBA Commissioner David Stern issuing an ultimatum to the NBPA. The union rejected it and players have since filed antitrust lawsuits against the NBA owners.
The owners, who had refused to continue negotiations with the union, are now back on the table with lawyers to try and settle the cases outside of court, which could cost them upwards of $6 billion in damages.
There is scant hope of a resolution to the crisis in time to save the season. Games till December 15th have already been cancelled while more are expected even if the union and owners come to a quick resolution.
That would be of little consolation to Terry from a team point of view. The new CBA is bound to be much more restrictive in terms of salary cap structure and that could mean that the Mavs bloated roster would have to be trimmed down excessively.
“Look at our roster,” Terry said. “Free agency is going to hit us hard. We don’t know what our team is going to look like.”
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