Dudley, Suns prepare for possible lockout
Jan 10, 2011, 5:07 PM | Updated: 5:08 pm
Jared Dudley is “slightly worried”. He’s not concerned about the Suns’ current season or his personal stats. No, he’s worried about the future.
With each passing day, the threat of a lockout in the NBA grows closer and closer.
“You should definitely expect it. If you’re a player, you should definitely expect it,” said Dudley, the Suns player representative.
The current collective bargaining agreement between the players and owners expires this summer. Billy Hunter, executive director of the players association, has been visiting teams and last week stopped in Phoenix to meet with the Suns. His message according to Dudley, “It’s serious….save even more than what you have been.”
If a deal is not reached by July, free agency will be delayed. And should it last into October, training camps won’t open; any longer, games won’t be played.
It’s a situation that Dudley and his teammates are prepared to take on as a team.
“We’re all in it together,” Dudley explained of the players position. The NBA last had a work stoppage in 1998. Dudley is mindful of those who would suffer the most if it happened again—the fans.
“I don’t think fans want to hear multi-millionaires and millionaires arguing. (Fans) work hard for their money so for us, it’s just doing a fair deal with the owners in the long run.”
