It’s that time of year again, when the Wizards use their ample means to graciously give away turkeys and host Thanksgiving meals for those in the community who are far less fortunate. But on the eve of the holiday when everyone in the country is reminded to be grateful for the little bit that they have, NBA players and owners both know they could be the ones who could be without next year if they don’t hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement next summer.
But instead of being driven by the holiday spirit, the two sides are taking pains to make sure the line in the sand between them is ever more clearly demarcated.
On Monday, National Basketball Players’ Association president Billy Hunter said he was “99 percent sure” there’d be a lockout next summer.
“I think it’s highly probable that there will be a lockout, and that’s what I’m preparing for because I don’t see anything else right now,” Hunter said.
The players are digging in as a unified group behind him — the union has been warning for the last two years to cut back and save pennies. The Wizards have fallen right in line, choosing an unlikely candidate to be one of their two union representatives.
“Just like in the past, the players gotta stick together,” said Gilbert Arenas, the team’s alternate behind Kirk Hinrich. “The people fought before us, and we’ve got to stick together, stick together as a union. If there’s a lockout, we gotta be prepared for it. If there’s not, we gotta be prepared to play.”
Despite missing 50 games last year for an incident that brought shame upon him and hurt the image of the league, Arenas possesses a thoughtful perspective and remains one of the Wizards’ most respected veterans.
The players union is also smarter and more prepared than it was last time a lockout happened in 1998, but for now, most of its members aren’t bothered by the rhetoric — if they are even aware of it in the first place.
“No one’s really concerned,” Arenas said when asked if there was a growing anxiety in the Wizards’ locker room. “Nobody’s paying attention because we’re playing right now. We’ll worry about all that this summer. Nobody’s really thinking about something that’s going to happen next year. We’ll wait for next year to happen.”
– Craig Stouffer
