The weekend of All-Star He did not go unnoticed in the NBA world. Although both before and after the game, the events did not seem to arouse much interest; those who were active demonstrating against the celebration of the event were some players.
Several of them had expressed their bewilderment after confirming that the NBA, a league that boasts of keeping its players safe in the first place, decided to celebrate an All-Star Weekend in the midst of a global pandemic. And apparently not only athletes think that way, but coaches accompany that thought, or at least Stan Van Gundy does.
The head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans was speaking on Jason Page’s podcast, and he made his position clear. Van Gundy understands that the NBA’s priority is money. He acknowledges that it is a business and that the League had to adapt to face the least amount of losses, but asks Adam Silver and his office to be honest about it.
“The only thing I’m going to criticize the League office is that they say ‘Safety is our main concern.’ No, it’s his number two concern, ”Van Gundy said. “His main concern is making money, and his next concern is that while we do that, we keep everyone as safe as possible. Let’s be honest about it. “
When the coach was asked if the All-Star Game should have been played last weekend, Van Gundy did not hesitate and his response was forceful: “It would have been much safer not to play. But this is the question. We are playing this, all of us for the same reason, money. And the All-Star Game is just an extension of that. It’s more money in everyone’s pockets ”.
“So I think it is false to say that we are all so concerned about safety and that the event should not have been played. We are not so concerned about security or we would not be doing what we are doing now. “
(Cover photo by Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
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