When Kyrie Irving gathered more than 100 NBA players last June 12 on a Zoom call, Chris Paul as president of the NBPA was in attendance. The online conference saw around 20% of the participants voicing out serious concerns about returning to play, which prompted the Thunder star to remind his colleagues on the impact of not participating in the season restart.
The NBA will resume playing next month but Irving has reservations on the plan. The Nets superstar is worried about safety even as the league is making sure that the risk of contracting COVID-19 is minimized by playing in a bubble city, which is Orlando. More so, Irving has expressed his opinion that the NBA getting back to business will only serve as a distraction.
The Brooklyn man is referring to the protest movements that followed the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Many are fighting for social justice and racial equality and Irving appeared convinced playing basketball at this time is out of place.
According to Sports Illustrated, Paul cautioned his fellow NBA players that opting out of the games in Orlando will be bad on their finances. The NBPA chief warned that not playing during the season restart will lead to salary forfeiture for players not in the games.
The word of caution is anchored on the assumption that too many players sitting out could lead to the cancellation of the season. And to follow is the possibility of the NBA scrapping the CBA by citing force majeure, which for the players' union is certainly detrimental.
The league stands to lose an estimated $645 million if the season, suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, is abandoned altogether, and it's bad business for all stakeholders, specifically on the part of players not earning as big as the likes of Irving, Paul, and LeBron James.
Because of this, NBPA executive director Michelle Robert had advised the union members that participating in the season restart could in fact do more good in the cause being championed by NBA players.
"It's a question of, does playing again harm a movement that we absolutely, unequivocally embrace? ... And then whether our play can, in fact, highlight, encourage, and enhance this movement," Robert was reported as saying.
The position is shared by James, who has made clear that he is playing to use the NBA as a platform for his social activism, according to Clutch Points.
Instead of looking at the Orlando games as a distraction, the Lakers superstar intends to make use of the games as a way of getting due attention for his message of protest to be heard by a larger audience. But of course, James also wants to complete the season as Los Angeles has a shot at winning the title.
