Jeffrey Kessler backtracks from ‘racist’ comments against David Stern – NBA Update
The National Basketball Players Associations (NBPA) legal counsel made a stinging attack on the NBA and Commissioner David Stern this past Monday.
His comments implied Stern as a racist, who treated the NBA players like “plantation workers”.
The lawyer, who raised a storm of criticism upon himself after the unruly comments, has however now apologized for his outburst and said he got carried away in the heat of the moment. Kessler made the comments in an interview with
the Washington Post, but said he wasn’t in a clear state of mind and was totally out of order levelling such damaging allegations at the Commissioner.
"The comments that I made to the Washington Post reporter were made late Monday night after a long day," he said. "Looking back at this now, my choice of words were inappropriate. I did not mean to offend. I was passionately advocating
for the players.”
Kessler’s comments came after some more hard-line negotiating by the NBA and Stern who continue to push the players union towards the wall. Bryant Gumbel made similar allegations last month when he called Stern a plantation overseer
who treated NBA players as his boys.
Stern, who continues to come under fire from many quarters due to his role in the NBA lockout, reacted strongly to Kessler’s tirade. Stern remarked that Kessler was a divisive force in the labour negotiations and has never been
keen to settle. He also said that Kessler continues to try and sabotage the discussions between NBA players and owners and labelled his comments as “routinely despicable”.
Kessler though wants to bury the hatchet. After apologizing in front of the press, the union lawyer intends to talk personally with David Stern in order to clear the air on Wednesday. He said he was wrong with the way he behaved
during the interview and would talk things over with Stern so the focus can remain on labour negotiations and the NBA lockout can be brought to an end.
“I am going to call Commissioner Stern this morning and apologize for my choice of words. It is very important that the parties not have any distraction and that we all work very hard to try to reach an agreement to save the NBA
season." Kessler said.
The NBA and the players union are meeting again on Wednesday, where Kessler and David are set to come face to face once more. However there are other things on the agenda for the meeting that should overshadow the personal feud.
The NBA made a take it or leave it offer to the players with a Wednesday deadline, an offer that originally prompted Kessler’s comments. The union has rejected the offer and the owners have agreed to meet one more time before the
offer expires at 5 P.M. The meeting has entered into its 12th hour as we write. However, the hopes of a breakthrough appear slim.
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