Players react positively to tentative NBA deal – NBA Lockout Update
The NBA players have largely welcomed the agreement to a tentative deal between the NBA owners and the players union, which has brought to an end almost 5 month old lockout.
The lockout began on July 1st and players have been yearning to get back on an NBA court ever since.
The labour dispute revolved around a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The owners said that the previous CBA was unfair and responsible for hundreds of millions in losses over the years. They wanted a complete overhaul of the
financial equation in the NBA as well as stricter rules to improve competitiveness in the league.
The players wanted to retain some freedoms and were not comfortable with giving up a huge chunk of the Basketball Related Income to the owners. In the end though, a compromise has been reached with players sacrificing the most.
Their sacrifice is testament to their will to play and get on with the league and it also showed in their reactions to the announcement of a tentative deal.
"The journey now begins!!" soon-to-be Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving, the league's No. 1 draft pick, wrote on Twitter. Kyrie was drafted with high expectations from a Cleveland fan base betrayed by LeBron James’ defection to the
Miami Heat just last year. Both the player and Cavaliers fans can now look forward to him strutting his stuff in Ohio next season.
"Haven't crossed the finish line yet," wrote Orlando Magic guard J.J. Redick, "but there's definitely a reason to be optimistic." It’s an important season coming up for Redick and the Magic. If the NBA season had been cancelled,
they would have probably lost super star centre Dwight Howard in the free agency next season.
Now they have a season in which to show him that he can win an NBA World Championship with the team, the only thing that might motivate him to stick around.
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade breathed a sigh of relief. He had been a most vocal critic of the NBA and Commissioner David Stern throughout the lockout and even engaged in a heated shouting match with him during one of the negotiation
sessions.
"All I feel right now is, 'Finally,'" Wade said to The Associated Press.
Free agents can also now look forward to the future, such as Shane Battier. Battier played for the Memphis Grizzlies last season but his contract was up in the summer. He has spent quite a few months wondering how the new CBA would
pan out and what would it mean for his prospects.
"I am happy it looks like we'll get to start winning our fans back," Battier wrote. "Thanks for the patience. Need to read new details before I pop the bubbly."
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