NBA Players are itching to get back to basketball and finish their season.
Of course, we’ve known that for a while, but confirmation came last week from National Basketball Players Association President Chris Paul. CP3 told Rachel Nichols in an exclusive interview on The Jump this week that players badly want to finish the 2019-20 season as soon as it is viable to do so, rather than simply moving on to the 2020-21 season.
Naturally, Chris Paul’s words were a major topic of conversation on The Jump as Rachel, Paul Pierce and Tracy McGrady discussed the viability of an NBA return in the near future. T-Mac talked about the very real financial motives to finish the season, and in that way, The Truth said this stoppage is similar to a lockout.
“I was part of a lockout during my rookie season,” he said. “And I know that the players are of the same mindset as CP3. From what I’m hearing around the league, guys really want to get back. It’s just, to what extent? What kind of precautions are taken? I know the NBA has a lot of resources, being able to present a campus-like feel for the players. All of us want the NBA back, but it’s to what measure and what risk, and is it worth it?”
Chris Paul also discussed his Clippers team’s potential boycott of NBA playoff games in an effort to get the league to remove Donald Sterling as owner. The league moved to remove Sterling before players had to take that action, but CP3 said the players were willing to take it as far as they had to in order to get the job done. Paul Pierce, who was playing for the Brooklyn Nets at the time, said he would have stood with the Clippers.
“The type of racism that came from Donald Sterling has no place, not only in our game, but in the world. If it was something league-wide where teams were to come together to boycott games just for the ban of Donald Sterling, I would have been all in for it. Guaranteed. No doubt about it.”
Watch Paul, T-Mac and Rachel discuss it below and watch The Jump weekdays at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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