Derek Fisher needs to show courage

Posted by By Eric Labrador at 7 November, at 22 : 08 PM Print

The negotiations on a new collective-bargaining agreement are at crossroads, an impasse, between a rock and a hard place, ad inf. David Stern and the owners are setting a Wednesday deadline for the NBPA and its Union to accept a deal or it will be erased and a new, less acceptable deal to the players will be submitted. The next one, as Stern has noted, will be to recover the losses from canceled games for this season. Derek Fisher, President of the Players Association has solemnly come out as a self-proclaimed advocate for fans, parking employees, arena workers and so on that the deal by the owners is unacceptable. But fans and everyone else probably would soon step away from Fisher, Hunter and the players rescinding his support with a message–WE WANT BASKETBALL.

Yes, now is not the time for hollow words in front of the media but an opportunity to show courage in a time of uncertainty, posturing and chaotic dissent. A canceled season would be not only a public relations “black eye” to players and owners, but it would be a failure for the leaders of the players association and the union. Not putting an end to this stalemate would show that Fisher is a failure as an effective leader, the player reps to be failures of communication and the NBA itself to be a failure as a professional sports league. Derek Fisher and Billy Hunter have the authority to accept a deal by or before Wednesday from the owners. Regardless of backlash by other players and sports agents, regardless of potential physical threats or loss relationships, they control their destiny as leaders. A decision to accept the owners deal wouldn’t absolve them of mistakes, but would prevent the entire ship from sinking, averting sheer disaster, ad inf.

The Bowse's Word David Stern, Derek Fisher, NBA Lockout