This time a Washington Wizards player weighed in on the NBA lockout proceedings and didn’t feel the need to back down. The emergence of Michael Jordan as the face of a hard-line faction of NBA owners seeking to bury the players association has prompted a fierce backlash. Players apparently thought he was one of their own and couldn’t help but feel betrayed in a seemingly hypocritical move by the greatest player of all time.
Nick Young might have made the loudest statement about what Jordan represents now — and he wears Nike shoes.
“im not wearin jordans no more cant believe what i just seen and heard from MJ,” Young tweeted. “#ElvisDoneLeftTheBuilding and i didnt delete it”
Jordan famously told late Wizards owner Abe Pollin during the 1998 labor negotiations, “If you can’t make a profit, you should sell your team.”
Young will be cheered for showing solidarity as players weigh an ultimatum delivered by NBA commissioner David Stern during negotiations Saturday. It said they have until Wednesday to accept the league’s current proposal or the next one will be far more lopsided in the owners’ favor.
An equally hard-line group of players is determined to take the labor fight to the courts. But should the players decide against union decertification and accept a deal, it’s unlikely JaVale McGee will get credit. He said some players were “ready to fold” last month, a comment he immediately disowned in the face of peer pressure.
Both he and Young deserve equal credit for calling it like they see it.
– Craig Stouffer
