As the NBA and NBPA continue discussions on when next season should begin, veteran forward Jared Dudley took to social media and voiced his own opinion on the matter, explaining why any proposal that limits the 2020/21 schedule to 50 games shouldn’t be considered by either side.
“Can’t play 50 games .. Thats a hard no for the players!” Dudley wrote. “Has to be a min of 72.. the real question is what change in a week? The league kept saying January January.. Everybody knew how big Christmas was and Olympics being late July months ago.. TV just mentioned it now??
The NBA is offering a proposal that allows next season to start as early as December 22, one that multiple high-level players have resisted to date. according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes (Twitter link). The players’ union prefers to start on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 18), but one report suggested the league would only offer a 50-game season if players insist on that start date. As of Friday, no 50-game proposal had been formally put forth.
By lowering the number of games played from 82 to 50, the salaries of players would be drastically reduced. However, by starting the season too soon, the league may risk the health of its players who recently played in Orlando — the Finals ended only three weeks ago.
Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- New Iona coach Rick Pitino remains intent on coaching the Greek national team during next June’s qualifiers, he told Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link). Pitino first announced his intention of coaching the team in November of 2019.
- NBA commissioner Adam Silver will have to find a way to balance revenue with safety entering next season, Steve Popper of Newsday writes. It’s unclear how the league plans to proceed in terms of fan attendance, with the absence of spectators naturally costing a significant loss in revenue. Outside of attendance, both the NBA and NBPA have yet to reach agreement on when next season should begin.
Starting in December 22 is risk injuring？
Completely BS
You play 72 games last season and 72 again this coming season
So you know whats best for the players?…Bro the season ended 3 weeks ago. Now you expect them to play a whole new season in 7 weeks? A team that gets to the finals normally still gets almost 3 1/2 months to rest. Also there is a pandemic that is not going away in the next month…sick of ppl acting that they know more than actual experts
So clearly your of the mindset that the 5 months off did nothing for players? Players are lazy as hell these days and expect to make top dollar in a depressed market. Take your rhetoric elsewhere your just as clueless as Sillivan.
A third of the league hasn’t played since March. And only two teams were left in the finals a few weeks back. Those teams had five months off earlier this year. That’s plenty of rest
I have always been convinced Rick Pitino is a vampire. Someone prove me wrong.
why would someone tryn out a vampire and piss em off?
Jared Dudley acts like he’s actually go na be playing in any games. Lol
Players are right to resist a Dec 22 start. But they can’t have 72 games with a mid-January start, and a mid-June completion, without playing 5 games a week — is that what they really want coming off a short off season? Owners likely really want to end the season by mid-June on their normal schedule. I think that’s as important as the Olympics, although they align.
Of course it’s TV bringing it up. The league’s projected $$ shortfall for 2019-20 does not include anything for the huge drop in ratings after the restart. Going forward they can’t have another year ratings wise like this past one, without impacting future revenues. The calendar matters here, more than fans and number of games which can be accounted for in TV negotiations.
Dudley is more worried about the preseason camp That’s all what he get paid for.
Na. He gets paid to be an awesome teammate. Hard to find those willing to accept the role of an end of the bench player. He embraced the role and is a big reason why the Lakers are back in their rightful place, on top of the league watching the haters go ballistic
Expand rosters to 20 players, start in January, play 5 games per week to get in 72, and load manage. Cut rosters down to 15 for the playoffs. European soccer teams do it all the time plus it will give more players a chance to show what they can (or can’t) do.
In addition, Jared Dudley will probably get to play.
Playing Dec 22 considering the facts. Shouldn’t be a big deal. Even early January is fine too. Fact is we all need to get thru this. Best possible way. No one is asking you to play with an injury. We are all dealing with this best we can. 60 gm season takes you into May-June. Playoffs till August. Big freaking deal