Ray Allen sends out a warning to NBA; Says he is ready to give up the season – Lockout News
Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen has been very active during the current NBA lockout. The player is among those veterans in the league, who have been working hard to rally the players in staying united in face of David Stern and
the NBA owners.
As the start of the season draws ever closer and the training camps looking set to be cancelled, Ray has sent out a stern warning to NBA - the players are prepared to lose the season if the owners don’t get serious about their
demands.
Not one to mince his words, Allen clearly stated that the owners should get serious or else risk losing the NBA season. He added that players did not want to go down that route, but are being forced into a corner,
"Nobody wants to miss a year," he said. "But I'm prepared to do what the team needs me to do, what my players association, players union team, what they need me to do, because we want to make sure we get the right deal for us."
Allen, a super star in his own right, won the NBA World Championship back in 2008 in his first year with the Boston Celtics. He is widely regarded as a legend of the game and currently holds the record for most 3-point shots made
in the history of the league. What he says holds great value and players across the board listen to him. His warning at this juncture of negotiations should not be taken lightly by NBA.
Allen made those comments on Thursday, when the league and the players’ union held another important meeting in the context of the new CBA. The meeting lasted around 5 hours but once again the two sides failed to reach a compromise.
Not only that, there was also no sign of a positive development.
All this means that the training camps are already doomed. There is no way the league can go ahead with the camps which were supposed to begin on 3rd October. An announcement regarding the postponement of the camps,
and of the pre-season exhibition games, is expected shortly from the NBA.
Even the start of the 2011-12 season in serious jeopardy. With earlier reports suggesting that many owners had already decided not to have an NBA season till they get a hugely favourable new CBA, it might be that the NBA is deliberately
delaying the process in order to put more pressure on the players.
However, it seems from the Allen’s latest statements that the players are more than ready for it.
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