While Derek Fisher and Billy Hunter said the National Basketball Players Association - which is now officially disbanded - was unified in its' rejection of the latest proposal by the NBA owners, at least one Cleveland Cavaliers player admits he would have voted to accept the proposal.
Cavs forward Samardo Samuels - the perfect example of a player that will be financially impacted by the paychecks that are now being missed by players - told the Akron-Beacon Journal on Monday that while the NBA proposal wasn't perfect he would have voted to accept the deal. The only problem? Samardo and the rest of the rank-and-file NBA players never got the chance to accept David Stern's deal.
"A lot of people in the league are panicking," Samuels said. "You’re talking about missing paychecks. Those paychecks you’re missing are going to add up and guys have families and responsibilities and bills to pay. I’m just a guy that’s coming out of college. I’m 22 years old, I don’t have much responsibility."
Samuels goes on to talk about big-name veterans in the NBA that have financial flexibility that many players likely do not have. Paul Pierce, for example.
It's easy for Paul Pierce to say that. You've been in the league how long?" Samuels said. "You've got a decent amount of money saved up, but what about the guys just coming into the league who don't have [anything] saved up?"
That's when this will really get interesting. Do the voices of players like Samuels start to get louder as more and more money is lost?