Player's Union launch "LET US PLAY" twitter movement – NBA Update
The NBA lockout is on the cusp of entering its fourth month. This work stoppage has led to postponement of free agency and training camps, termination of preseason games and rookie transition camp; and now with the first two weeks of NBA season wiped out, the whole next NBA season is on the brink of cancellation.
It is high time for the players to come forward and do something substantial to save the upcoming season. After all, it is they, who have always maintained that they play for the love of the game.
However it seems that the only thing they are coming up with at the moment is more stubbornness in their stance.
In Sunday’s exhibition game between Goodman League and Drew League, all the players had the same script on their shirts saying ‘Basketball never stops’. The purpose was to send a strong message to NBA that all players are united in the cause.
The next day, this movement reached another level when Derek Fisher, the president of National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) asked his players to launch a movement on social networking site, twitter, in order to show their unity and get public support. All the players who are the members of the union received the letter, a fragment of which read this;
“Chris Paul and I will also be utilizing our personal social networking channels to show the fans and you all, that we are united and want to get back to work under a fair deal. On Monday, Chris and I will tweet and post "LET US PLAY." This was used by the NFL players and many will be joining us on Monday and re tweeting the same message to show their support for our players. I will also be using the hash tag #Stand United after all my messages until this lockout is over. We invite you each to do the same”
The twitter group immediately became viral, with stars like Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Jarrett Jack, Marquis Daniels, Eric Maynor, Devin Ebanks, Nazr Mohammed, Serge Ibaka and Anthony Tolliver making their views heard.
By Monday afternoon, the phrase “LET US PLAY” was all over twitter.
It is early to predict what will be the outcome of this effort and how much the stunt will go on to pressurize the owners.
However, one thing is certain, that if the whole NBA season gets cancelled because of the whole money quarrel, both the owners and players will be accountable for the loss of popularity and fan base, NBA will suffer in the years to come.
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