Among key NBA players, there’s optimism that a majority of players want to continue the playoffs and complete the 2019/20 season, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Sources tell Wojnarowski that several members of the Lakers, as well as players around the league, stayed up for hours after Wednesday night’s meeting to continue discussing the issues.
Players are scheduled to reconvene this morning at the same time that the league’s team owners hold a conference call to discuss the situation.
Doc Rivers and Chris Paul were among those who called upon players at last night’s meeting to come away with a plan of action and two or three “clear items” that the NBA can help them act upon, such as police reform and accountability or voter registration, according to an ESPN report.
Paul also wanted to make sure that players understand the financial ramifications of not finishing the 2019/20 season, which could be “cataclysmic,” one league executive told ESPN. NBPA leadership told players that they could lose about about 25-30% of their salaries for next season and would risk termination of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
According to ESPN’s report, CJ McCollum challenged players who wanted to end the season not to forfeit their platform by quietly heading back home, while Jaylen Brown and Andre Iguodala were among those who called for players to join the “front lines” of the fight for social justice if they stop the season.
While players would reportedly like to see team owners do more to address the issues the players are protesting, some owners have privately wondered what more they can do, according to ESPN. The league’s Board of Governors recently committed $300MM over the next 10 years to a foundation that aims to “create economic opportunity and empowerment in the Black community,” ESPN notes.
The players want the Board of Governors’ support in pushing for policy changes, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Turning teams’ arenas into voting centers for this year’s election could be another actionable item for franchises. Several clubs have already announced their intentions to use their arenas as voting centers, with the Rockets becoming the latest to do so this morning.
Thank goodness still there is some common sense left around! Common guys finish the job first & then you can do whatever you wanna do!
Agreed. I’m not sure what canceling the rest of the season was actually going to accomplish. The league did so much to get to this point, the might as well finish. That said, I do support their cause for social justice and hope some progress can be made off the court.
In other words, it’s funny how empty the comment section is when something positive develops. Some people just exist to complain, I guess
The Board of Governors could re-announce their $300 billion plan as a response to these demands, like the NBA did earlier with their free covid19 testing program. Heck re-announce that too.
At some point players have to get back to it, like soon.