NBA legend and Hall of Famer Rick Barry blames Billy Hunter for the elongated lockout
The NBA Lockout has officially completed four months of its existence as the frustration for the basketball fans around the world continues. The regular season games for the month of November have already been cancelled and if the players do not accept the latest NBA proposal, there will be, in all certainties, a decertification of the union. When that will happen, rest assured that there will be no NBA action this season.
While NBA owners and players association having been blaming each other for the elongated lockout, former NBA legend and Hall of Famer Rick Barry has pointed the finger only at one person - the executive director of the union, Billy Hunter.
The 67-year-old NBA legend, who is still remembered as one of the finest small forwards in the history of NBA, believes that the deal should have been made a month ago, when the owners offered a fair proposal. For Rick, all the blame comes on the shoulder of Billy Hunter who is standing firm on his part.
“If I was still a player today I would be totally ticked off by the fact that we didn’t make a deal months ago. I really do believe that this could’ve been resolved and should’ve been resolved a long time ago. Why they always have to come down to this I don’t know. I’m not a big fan of Billy Hunter. I think Billy Hunter is one of the worst things that happened to the NBA.” Barry said.
Although Rick Barry did acknowledge that Hunter got the players association an unbelievable deal in the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, however the former Golden State Warriors superstar also held Billy responsible for the work stoppage in late 90’s, which deprived the players from one third of their salaries.
And as a result, the NBA players didn’t get much from the deal.
Rick Barry also highlighted, that given the current situation of the league and sudden recession in the economy, the owners are right to demand a major share of the money.
“I keep reading these statements ‘well we’re not going to give back what we fought so hard to get.’ Well what you got was more than you should’ve gotten. Accept it, l**k your wounds, make a deal, take a little bit of a reduction.” Barry said.
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