Tempers flare in Friday’s players union - owners meeting: NBA Lockout News
Emotions ran wild in the meeting between NBA players and owners on Friday, 30 September 2011.
With the stakes getting higher by the day, a large number of NBA players took part in the meeting while the owners’ contingent was also substantially bigger than usual. Before the New York meeting started, the common perception
was that a failure to resolve the crisis this weekend would guarantee a delay in the next NBA season. And as expected, some of the biggest stars in the NBA descended on New York to take part in the meeting, including the likes of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade
of the Miami Heat, as well as Ray Allen and Kevin Durant.
The bigger players of the league had been criticized in some quarters recently for not being as active in negotiations as they could have been. On Friday night, they responded and made sure that they let their presence felt.
The temperature was high throughout the 5 hours spent in the conference room and at points; both sides seemed a little riled. There have been reports that at one point Dwyane Wade shouted at David Stern, with NBA.com revealing
the player told Stern: "Don't point your finger at me. I'm a grown man. I have children."
This reportedly happened after the commissioner made an assertion directly pointing to Wade. The meeting was broken up after the incident for a while as both sides regained their composure, with Stern seeking out NBPA Executive
Director Billy Hunter for an apology to Wade.
"It was important that the owners see that our star players feel the way they do," said Roger Mason of the New York Knicks after the meeting. The participation of the sheer number of stars, and the focus and emotion they brought
to the table, would certainly have sent out a message to the NBA owners and Stern.
"Our union is strong and we all feel the same way. It's easy to say our union feels a certain way, but when these guys come out and speak and [the owners] hear it for themselves, I think they might have been a little surprised."
Mason said.
The players also huddled up on occasion and had some debates amongst themselves during the meeting as the overall atmosphere in the room became highly charged. NBPA President Derek Fisher, who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers,
thanked the players afterwards for showing up with such a positive attitude and telling the world that they stood united in this moment of turbulence.
"Their presence here today ... says a lot. These guys have always been here with us in spirit. They've always been here with us in terms of the cause. They've been with us in concerns and recommendations."
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