It came across Twitter in the form of a shout on Friday morning: “NBA POSTPONES TRAINING CAMPS FOR 2011-12 SEASON, CANCELS 43 PRESEASON GAMES. FOR MORE INFO PLEASE VISIT NBA.COM.” Anyone else feeling like shouting back? Something to the effect of, “HOW ABOUT MAKING A DEAL INSTEAD.”
The practical effect on the Wizards is the loss of two preseason games, Oct. 13 at home vs. New York and Oct. 15 at Milwaukee, both of which were quickly expunged from the team website. Always prepared, that NBA.
I can’t imagine one player crying over the lack of training camp, which will certainly come in a shortened form now if and when the NBAPA and NBA come to an agreement.
Also, should all caps be taken as doom and gloom for the season itself? We’ll still have to wait and see.
Wizards free agent forward Maurice Evans, who is vice president of the players union, said in a chat on ESPN.com late Friday afternoon that he thinks there’ll be basketball “sometime between November and January.”
Now, that’s a pretty wide swath of time. But for him to guess that the season won’t be lost – that’s a definitively positive outlook from a guy who is close enough to the nuts and bolts of the negotiations to know.
