NBA Lockout: Players willing to meet the owners to discuss prevailing situation
Since the lockout has taken effect, there has been an apparent lack of interest in getting the issue resolved. Both the players and the owners are to blame for the continuation of this phase. While the owners are acting in the most stubborn way possible, the players are busy finding opportunities abroad or having fun in the summer leagues.
Only one meeting has been held since the lockout came into effect on July 1. Not only was the meeting highly unproductive, it is expected that no new session of any such meeting will be held any time in the near future. The next meeting is scheduled to be held sometime in September.
It must be noted that the players are willing to sit down and have talks with the NBA executives; however, the latter seem to be totally uninterested at this point, especially after what happened in the last round of talks. The previous talks had left the NBA Commissioner David Stern fuming.
What has made this whole situation even more complex is the fact that the NBA officials are not allowed to leak their perspective on the issue. They are under strict orders from David Stern to keep silent over the issue and not discuss such business matters in public.
The players have expressed their eagerness to meet, discuss and resolve the issue before October 1 matures. The National Basketball Players Association has however also repeatedly asked the players to remain united. Recently, at one of the union meetings, Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce sent out a message to all players that they needed to stay united in these ‘tough’ times.
"I can't speak for the owner's side, but on the player's side, there's definitely a sense of urgency to meet and talk," said the Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand.
The players’ union has taken a much broader step in this regard by arranging regional meetings all over the country. This has been done in order to update people as to what is happening in the league. Sessions were held in Los Angeles and Las Vegas last week and it is expected that others will be held in Chicago, Boston and Houston in the coming few days.
What is interesting to note is the fact that the owners and the players seem to have made this into an issue that only concerns the two parties at hand. They fail to realize that the fans are the ones who will suffer the most due to the lockout. Many fans have already expressed their anger over the issue and are dreading a year without basketball.
David Stern, however, is sticking to his ‘no compromise’ attitude in the aftermath of the one and only meeting held between the two parties, earlier this summer.
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