NBA Lockout is affecting rookies the most: NBA Report
The newcomers who entered the league during this year’s NBA Draft are perhaps the biggest victims of the work stoppage. The rookies had about one week of affiliation with the National Basketball Association Teams after being drafted
before being shut down by the Lockout.
The league locked out is players on 1st of July upon the expiration of the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement. The NBA rookies neither played their first game nor did they sign a contract which puts a big concern
on their future.
NBA has also restricted the owners and team management from keeping any kind of contacts with their players since the work stoppage took place which has hampered the newcomers from having an extensive conversation with their respective
coaches.
Meanwhile, rookies’ agents are searching for overseas deals and marketing options for their clients whose futures are getting murkier with each passing day.
Mark Bartelstein, who represents seven NBA rookies, said on this distressing situation for the newcomers.
“It’s part of this whole process. This [labour] deal is very important to them because it’s going to shape what they’re allowed to do with the contract negotiations in the future. So they have a lot at stake. Their futures are
at stake here, and it’s something we’re working really hard at to make sure guys are really informed on what’s going on.’’
With the current situation prevailing in the league, it’s very important for the rookies that the next season starts on time in order to avoid financial hardships. However the negotiation talks between the NBA owners and players’
association depicts a different story.
Both the parties are far away from making a settlement at the moment with no progress towards the solution made whatsoever. The Lockout is about to complete its second month and the representatives of the owners and players’ union
met only once since the work stoppage officially took place. That single meeting only added more fuel to fire as the end result of the negations featured a couple of lawsuits on the players.
Even though the negotiation process is expected to resume early in September however, it won’t take only one meeting to resolve labour conflicts. In Fact, considering both the parties are way apart, the possibility that the lockout
will wipe out some games in the next season has started to become a reality.
This is more depressing for the NBA rookies who are going to have an abysmal start to their professional career if work stoppage disrupts the next season. In fact, most of the second and third round picks may not even receive a
contract when the league gets back to business after enduring an elongated tenure of lockout.
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