Kevin Love says players are angry but united – NBA Update
NBA players held a regional meeting recently which was attended by around 60 players. In that meet, the ongoing NBA lockout and the league’s proposals came under discussion. Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love was also in
attendance and he told reporters afterwards that the players were not pleased at all with the current situation.
NBA players have long held the view that the league’s proposals for a new CBA are not acceptable. When National Basketball Players Association President Derek Fisher and Executive Director Billy Hunter briefed them about what was
actually on the table, the players responded with anger and frustration.
Many NBA players have hit out at NBA Commissioner David Stern and the owners proposals that they believe take too much away for them. The NBPA has time and again stressed that it will not accept measure such as shorter, non-guaranteed
contracts or a hard salary cap, something Stern tried to sell as a “flex” cap.
When it was revealed at the meeting that the owners are still sticking to their demands, many players showed their anger. According to Love, the players are still not in favour of decertification of the NBPA and suing the league,
even though the NBA already has filed a lawsuit against them.
"We had a couple of heated arguments," Love said of one of the regional meetings. "No one was talking about decertification. When there was a lockout in 1998-99 they didn't have any meetings in June and July and until early August
and we want to make sure the ball gets rolling so we're not locked out the whole year or we're signing a bad deal."
NBA players are the product that the league puts out. It is the players who go out on the court and perform night in night out. They draw the fans in and they sell the merchandise. The owners do provide a platform for the players
to show case their talents, but the heartbeat of the NBA is still the players.
Kevin reiterated this fact and said the players want to be compensated accordingly. The players do not think the large cuts demanded in the BRI, the players are already willing to come down from 57 percent to 54 percent, are fair
and the whole new system proposed puts players at a disadvantage.
He said it was decided at the meeting not to give in and stay together in face of the mounting pressure from the NBA and the looming threat of a lost season.
"It would be a crazy system and at the end of the day we're the product and the money-maker and I don't see (the owners) going out there and playing," Love said. "We've got to stick together as one."
Tags: