Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Though no longer officially on the team roster, Davis’ source of information remains Paul Pierce [stats], the Celtics’ player representative.
Though Pierce was the main speaker during a players-only conference call last week that featured an aggressive debate about decertification of the union, he hasn’t attempted to sell that idea to teammates.
“Paul has e-mailed me. He called once,” said Davis, sounding disturbed that Pierce has not been in more frequent contact. “He doesn’t advise me on any of this. That’s what my agent does. He’s Paul Pierce. He doesn’t have to talk to me.
“But what (Pierce) basically says is to be prepared for anything. This is something the league has to go through, and we have to wait for things to work out. But he hasn’t talked to me about (decertification). He just talks to me about being ready.”
Herald: Big Baby just wants to play ball
Paul Pierce is the Celtics player representative. Glen Davis is (currently) a former Celtic. So yeah, it's up to his agent to give him the updates.
And if Baby is so concerned with the day-to-day operations, why doesn't he call Paul? Or why doesn't he get his ass to New York and attend one of the meetings or buy Derek Fisher a drink after a meeting is over and get briefed himself?
Speaking of meetings, last night's ended very early in the morning and that 5pm deadline is on hold. Both sides will talk again today at noon for what I assume is one last time. There is optimism, though:
“We can get there in the next day or two,” one high-ranking league official briefed on the talks said. “But it’s still a volatile process, and egos can still get in the way. …But there’s a lot of reason to be hopeful.”
But despite another dose of optimism in the agent and front-office community that the two sides were moving closer to a deal Wednesday, Fisher said there was "not as much (flexibiity) as we'd like" from league negotiators on the system issues.
"I would not read into this, optimism or pessimism," Stern said of the two sides reconvening today. "We'll just continue to negotiate."
So after all that… I got a bunch of "I don't know a damn thing" for ya. They moved a little in some places, didn't move enough in others, and I'm stuck in the middle with you.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Antoine Walker gets new date in gambling case | NBA labor talks continue
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