Real Talk With Ray

By: Talia Bargil
For NBPA.com

A lot has changed for Ray Allen since the 1998 NBA lockout.

He’s earned himself an Olympic Gold medal, picked up an NBA Championship and joined elite company as a 10-time NBA All-Star. Not to mention, he’s gone from NBA newbie to 36-year-old respected veteran and leader who can still play. But when it comes to the current negotiations, not much has changed some 12 years later except for Allen’s business suit and the cast of NBA peers sitting on his side of the bargaining table.

“There are a lot of similarities from the last time,” said the Celtics guard. “We don’t always go into negotiations and get everything we want, but that’s the case for both sides. We talk about making decisions for the future, and some of the players here will be part of the next deal…we want to make sure they aren’t kicking themselves later. There were some mistakes that we made last time that we didn’t particularly like, and we are trying to avoid that again.”

A player representative when the 1998-99 NBA lockout cut the season to 50 games – and later serving as a Vice President on the NBPA’s Executive Committee – the Celtics guard circled back to NBA and Union headquarters to chime in on the deal in progress and pass on his lockout experience with those coming up the ranks behind him.

“I can share some of the things we dealt with…just kind of the atmosphere of the league back then, how the players dealt with the negotiations, how the owners were at the time,” he said. “At the very least, I can take what I know back to my teammates and make sure we let everybody know that we are working hard to put this game back on the floor.”

With a stronger than ever unity among players, the 15-year NBA veteran says the group is speaking from their hearts and from their will to want to make this league better.

“As a whole, you have to believe in the process. You have to believe that everybody that we are representing, whether you are a superstar or the 12^th guy on the bench, has a voice and that everybody who has a voice should be clearly and truly heard,” he said. “I very much believe that we are looking out for the whole sum as opposed to certain individual players.”

And even with the barrage of conflicting messages coming from all directions, the players are sticking together and fighting for what they believe is right.

“Anytime you have two forces battling against each other, it’s easy to try to beat the other side by divide and conquer,” he said. “With so many players in the NBA with different interests, on different levels, and from different demographics all over the world, it’s easy to prey on a group of guys and tell them why they should cave and why the leadership isn’t doing what’s in their best interest.”

In an effort to keep the guys informed throughout the entire process, the NBPA’s communication pipeline has been disseminating frequent updates to players throughout the country and abroad. Holding meetings on both coasts and several locations in-between, players have taken a vested interest in their livelihood and turned out in large numbers to hear what Union Executive Director Billy Hunter and President Derek Fisher have to say.

“The guys on the Executive Committee have done a great job all summer keeping everybody informed. There’s so much happening, and it’s important that we do what we can to help support the Executive committee by showing up…and support Derek [Fisher] and Billy [Hunter] not just for what they have been doing for us all summer, but throughout the last several years when we knew this was coming.”

Now, with the regular season just around the corner, NBA players remain optimistic that a deal can be reached. For Allen, whose tremendous physical shape and work ethic continues to underscore his commitment to the game, he’s ready to go when the whistle blows.

“For most of us, this is what we’ve been doing for 20 years of our life…getting ready for basketball in the fall,” he said. “Once you get into your 30s it’s even more of a lifestyle because you have to really watch not only how you’re working out, but how you are eating as well.”

And he speaks for his NBA peers when he says, “Once you get to this point, you turn into a pumpkin if you’re not ready.”