Former NHLer Bill Guerin to NBA Players: “It’s not worth it”
While NBA players and league owners still remain at a stand standoff over the lockout, a few words of wisdom are being directed toward the players from an unexpected source: former NHLer Bill Guerin.
No, Guerin never played professional basketball, but during the course of his impressive 17-year NHL career, he too was at the forefront of a contentious lockout. In fact, there probably wasn’t a single NHLer during the infamous 2004-05 NHL lockout who was a bigger proponent of the union’s fight than Guerin. However, Guerin, a little older and a little wiser, has a warning for all NBA players:
“It’s not worth it. Get a deal done.”
For those who don’t remember, the NHL’s 2004-05 lockout forced the cancellation of the entire season. Not only was it a major blow to the league, but some argue that the NHL didn’t fully recover from the lockout up until a couple season ago. In hindsight, Guerin believes the whole process just wasn’t worth the loss of an entire season.
“We could have waited two years and they would have waited us out—I would have given an extra two percent back to play that year,” Guerin said. “When you are in the heat of battle, and you are fired up, you don’t think what they are doing is right. But it’s not about what is right or wrong—it’s their league. It’s theirs. I feel, personally, I didn’t like guys giving up a year of their career, for what? A few less bucks? Guys are making more money now than they ever have.”
NBAers may not like the sound of that, but it’s true: It is their league. And more importantly than whose league it is or who is in the right in this battle, just like the NHL couldn’t do, the NBA too has no way of calculating the disastrous effects of the fallout they will have with their fans.
“People say it’s OK for ownership to make money because they worked hard to make money and afford to buy a sports franchise,” Guerin went on. “But the athlete is dumb and good at his sport and fortunate to play sports and make millions.”
Although Guerin might not be taking sides, he’s making it rather clear that the onus is on the players to end this lockout.
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