NBA Lockout gets ugly; Minnesota Timberwolves Fire Employees – NBA Labour Dispute Update
The dreaded aftermath of the NBA lockout seemed inevitable. Just recently, the Charlotte Bobcats fired around seven people from their working staff, followed by the laying off of almost fifteen workers by the Detroit Pistons. Now
the Minnesota Timberwolves have followed suit.
The Timberwolves have targeted the business side of operations and have reportedly released eleven people on Tuesday, mostly from the Sales department.
It is expected that a wave of such ‘lay-offs’ will grip the entire league this season, if the lockout continues. Teams lower down the league have already been affected.
The decision by the Minnesota Timberwolves comes at a time when they are busy looking for a new head coach for the team. The Timberwolves had a torrid season last time around where they managed to earn a mere 17 wins in the pre-season
and finished with the infamy of being the worst side in the league.
The laying off of employees has had no effect on the search for a new Head Coach though as the personnel involved in the Basketball operations have not been axed. David Kahn, the head of the Basketball operations is scheduled to
meet Mike Woodson with regards to the coaching vacancy.
Prior to this, Woodson has had a successful team re-building stint with the Atlanta Hawks. He helped them climb from the lower pits of the Eastern Conference and the Hawks are now considered as a perennial playoff team.
However, some other names have also made the contender’s list including Terry Porter, Don Nelson and Bernie Bickerstaff. Kahn had earlier expressed his desire to land a coach with an ‘up-tempo DNA’.
While the Basketball operations have been running smooth and the players remain unaffected by the lockout, it is expected that more employees might lose their jobs in the near future. This is in addition to the thousands of supplementary
and part time employees, who are expected to lose their bread and butter this season.
This move does not come as a big surprise though. The Minnesota Timberwolves had been in a financial slump for quite some time now and with no season revenues expected this season, this decision is expected to relieve some of that
financial burden.
The employees as well as the fans have shown signs of distress over the decision, and have called for actions to be taken on the Basketball side of operations, especially on unwanted players. They claim that apart from zero job
security, they were being denied of the sport itself, whereas the players have remained unaffected by the lockout.
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