I have always been taught to listen to the people who know the subject best. This is why I am rolling my out my article of quotes. How this works is, I take quotes from smart people and put them in a post for us normal folks to read. This gives us an idea on what they are thinking and their feelings towards the matter at hand. The topic today comes to us from the Players & Owners meeting. A lot of speculation is happening with the potential lock out and we will hear it from the players and owners directly.
Since this is a Boston Celtics website, we will keep it strictly to Celtic affiliations.
First we will listen to the captain, Paul Pierce discuss the old lockout and the new potential lockout. He discusses his troubles during the 1998 lockout and the potential for a new one.
(On 1998 Lockout) "It's terrible," said Boston's Paul Pierce, who recently participated in Allen's charity game in Hartford, Conn. "I don't have (a source of income) right now. I got loans, that's about it." "It's an anxious time. I want to have a good start. I just have to be patient."
(On 1998 Lockout) "Me, I had no knowledge of it (potential lockout)," Pierce said. "So I got drafted, and I was like, 'Oh, there's a lockout. I was pretty much on my own," Pierce said. "I didn't have a trainer or nothing. It was just, stay ready."
"That's the thing about lockouts," said Pierce "I've seen a lot of guys end their career during the lockout, pretty much by weight gain. They couldn't get back to the level of play. It's always about staying ready. Even at my age, I think a lot of guys, they go through the lockout in October. November comes, guys my age get lazy probably and don't work out. And then it bites them when they lift the lockout."
“The way it’s been going since last year, there really hasn’t been any movement on the talks,” Pierce said. “But the players do talk about it amongst our teams. I think this year, the players are really unified and interested in carrying our league forward." (On 2011 Potential Lockout)
Kevin Garnett has been around the league longer than most and has a lot of wisdom both on and off the court. Many writers speculated that Kevin Garnett’s contract in 1998 was the reasoning for the 98' lockout, signing a six year $128 million dollar contract.
“At some point, especially with the lockout coming up…Who knows if this is my last year, or (if) we don't play next year, what it's going to be. So I'm trying to enjoy the guys now." (On 2011 Potential Lockout)
“If any player tells you it’s not on his mind, he’s lying,’’ Kevin Garnett said. “It’s something we’re going to deal with as players, as a whole, along with the NBA to get it done. Hopefully, we can get it done in a class manner, which both sides deserve. It’s unfortunate, but it’s business." (On 2011 Potential Lockout)
We round the big three off with some quotes from Ray Allen. He discusses the lockout of 98’ as well as his preparation during the lockout. He also sheds some light into the potential one.
(On 1998 Lockout) “I was twiddling my thumbs, waiting for this to end. I think around the world, they don’t understand, we want to play, we want to be out there and it’s the owners that are not particularly happy with what’s going on and they want to change the business model. So we have to do everything we can to keep what we’ve got going on going on, because we don’t want to lose the momentum we have. I think the league is in good shape right now."
"Based on what happened in '98-99, the guys that are still around, we understand what we don't want to go through." (On 2011 Potential Lockout)
Last but not least, let’s listen to Danny Ainge telling us nothing.
“Nothing’s happening,’’ Ainge said in a text message. “Talk is all." (On 2011 Potential Lockout)
After listening to a lot of these quotes, it concludes that no one wants this, however, both parties are trying to do what is in their best interest. David Stern hasn't offered any solutions thus far, the owners are asking for too much and the players don't realize the economic struggles of the league. It's really not that hard to understand considering the players aren't reading financial statements of the teams and the league. Although the current struggles could explain this NBA Players return to classrooms
One thing you have to ask yourself, is the lockout good for the Celtics? Should we root for a lockout?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
