To All Clutchfans It’s ok to talk about the topic and poll don’t let anyone tell you otherwise if they want you to go off topic that means you can talk about players, salaries, owners, games, speculate outcomes you don’t have to fall for their guilt trap about trying save the world We have a different section for that here And it’s the same people who are trying to bait you into talking about that Rockets First Always
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — After walking out of Wednesday’s players meeting in support of sitting out NBA’s games, LeBron James led a small group of players who turned to perhaps America’s biggest basketball fan for advice. Former President Barack Obama spoke to James, National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul and a small group of players late Wednesday evening, advising them to play and utilize the opportunity to contextualize action they want in order to play, The Athletic has learned. James, Paul and others wanted to seek the guidance of the 44th President of the United States (2009-2017), and on the call broached forming a committee for player action that they want Obama involved in, sources told The Athletic. The call took place following a contentious players meeting in which Lakers and Clippers players voted to refuse to play the remainder of the season. After lengthy dialogue into Thursday morning, both franchise’s players had agreed to pursue a restart to the postseason should the players union and NBA work toward increased social justice measures. During Wednesday’s meeting, several exchanges took place: – Several players expressed frustration toward Bucks players about being blindsided about their walkout on Wednesday afternoon. When asked to explain themselves, Bucks veteran Kyle Korver spoke up and said that he wanted to play, but the team supported each other in their decision to walk out and forfeit the game. Bucks players had intended to simply forfeit and award Orlando with a win, make the series 3-2, and move on, sources said. Instead, this led to a league-wide walkout. Bucks guard George Hill admitted in Wednesday’s meeting that he sparked the conversation in the team’s pregame locker room about sitting, and teammates, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, supported Hill. – Clippers Doc Rivers delivered an impassioned speech to players, encouraging them to take more ownership toward the voting process. Rivers expressed that he believes only 20 percent of players are registered voters, and that number must be in the 80s, sources said. Those sources said Rivers expressed that Black males must make a more concerted effort to go vote and make an impact. – Rockets assistant John Lucas followed Rivers, sharing the strides the NBA has made with its platform and finances are a far cry from when he was a player from 1976-1990. He challenged players to be even more responsive toward action, even in moments when incidents such as the George Floyd killing by police offers in Minneapolis on May 25 or when Jacob Blake was shot in the back by police officers on Aug. 23. Lucas spoke about the financial empowerment players can make with people who have decision-making powers, sources said. – Sources said NBPA executive director Michele Roberts informed players that even if they finish out the season, they will have lost salary this season, but it was anticipated. Should they not finish the season, the financial losses would be greater and the difficulty rises toward the collective bargaining negotiations. Roberts also told the players that simply because they finish the season does not mean a lockout would not happen, that too much still must be sorted out, sources said. Among players this week, there has been increased conversation about the potential of a lockout after the season. James spoke in the meeting about wanting to hold owners more accountable and receive further action, sources said. He supported the Bucks’ walk out and supported the movement, but wanted a plan and an outcome. Outcomes and actual actions matter for James, who tweeted Thursday: Without proper planning and action outcomes, James essentially asked, “Why do this?” Several players in the room wanted to sit out the remainder of the season, too, but understood the importance of having items to accomplish by playing. On Thursday, after the players agreed to continue playing this postseason, James was among the players in the room for a call with the 13 team governors with franchises inside the Bubble, league office, NBPA and Hornets’ Michael Jordan, who serves as the labor relations committee chairman. He spoke for around five minutes to the room and pushed for complete follow-up to social justice items after the season ended, that the action topics did not die with the season, according to multiple direct sources on the call. James added he wanted to see the league and owners help build up poor communities, and that most people where he grew up couldn’t afford to pay for television cable to watch his games. One person who was on the call told The Athletic that they were impressed by what James had to say and made “very valid points.” The NBA will return to action on Saturday with three playoff games.
LeBron James' Attitude During Meetings 'Turned Off' Owners, Younger Players During Friday's episode of First Take, Stephen A. Smith shed light on the role LeBron James played in meetings with his fellow players on Wednesday evening and the owners on Thursday. "To call him a leader at this particular moment in time, that would not apply," said Smith. "When you talk to people inside the bubble, let me tell you what I heard. I heard, first of all, he was speaking out of pocket and was talking to the players in a fashion that really turned some of these young cats off. This is a new day. This is a new generation. As we have said on previous shows when cats were out in the streets protesting and things of that nature, just talking about the younger generation, they're not having it anymore. Well, guess what, the younger generation of players were not having what they were hearing from LeBron James because of the fashion in which he spoke to them. "So when he stormed out of there, I was told it was in part because of that. And he sort of came off like 'I got mine, I don't need this.' And he walked out. "Now, we later learned the Lakers and the Clippers were the two teams who did not want to participate." The Lakers and Clippers decided on Thursday morning that they would continue with the playoffs, and that led to a call between two player representatives of each team, the NBPA, Adam Silver, Michael Jordan and a governor from each team still in the playoffs. Smith was told, however, the Lakers had four representatives on the call. "When everyone thought the meeting was over, LeBron James grabs the mic, and from what I'm told talks for about 15 minutes," said Smith. "And he's talking for about 15 minutes in a fashion that turned everybody off because they had already agreed to what they were going to do moving forward. And he was talking about 'The guys beneath me. I have to look out for the guys beneath me.' "To the point where you had people saying 'What the hell you mean...beneath you?' "They didn't say that to him, but they certainly said it to people like myself, Woj and others that were covering the meeting. He came across as if he was the king with some crown and what have you, and it was a real, real turnoff. "Why is this relevant, ladies and gentleman? It is relevant because you're trying to galvanize folks with your More Than A Vote movement. This is the same LeBron James who has that excellent show executive produced by himself and my man Maverick Carter on The Shop on HBO. Remember, you're talking during that show, you want to be an owner. Well, you already alienated owners when you departed from Cleveland to go [to the Heat] the first time. You obviously were on the verge of alienating owners this time around. And this is a good old boys club. They don't have to let you in as an owner, which is what he ultimately wants." Smith pointed out how Larry Ellison has tried to purchase an NBA team for years, but the league and owners have so far not let him do so. "So for LeBron to have these aspirations but really turning people off the way that he has, some of the players, executives, owners...LeBron James needs to be careful. He usually sees the forest for the trees. Over the last two days, that was not the case. He turned a lot of people off by how he tried to come across as if he were big time. He needs to be careful about that, from what I've been told by numerous people that were present." Smith indicated that the message James conveyed was wanting to put pressure on the owners, but they had already agreed to help the players as he spoke last. "A lot of people are talking about it in Orlando because of how he came across. He did not look good."
Indeed. I want sports to be sports. Tis what I want. However, these are people with a platform. Some lean right some lean left and, regardless, they are fully entitled to air their opinions and positions. Given a choice, I’d just take the (fun’n’)games. (alas)
