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  • How were those negotiations when you guys were in those rooms to think about?

  • Hey, look, we have to give up some things in order to get these games.

  • And it seems like it feels like there's so many moving parts.

  • Yeah, they're they're a lot of moving parts, J.

  • And I don't know if we've ever spoken, but I was I'm a big fan, man.

  • Always been a big fan of yours.

  • Uh, but, um, you know the fact that way wanna in Rome on zooms instead, um, discussing how to, you know, negotiate understanding that the owners the ownership will not get their full share of b r i this upcoming season because of the loss of revenue and trying to figure out how to allow them thio get that, but also mitigate, um, the big time losses from the player's perspective.

  • Uh, so to be ableto smooth that over three years, um rather than having to just dump the whole 30% of your salary back to the owners right away, we're able to smooth that over over three years and then, um, do that again the second year and then the third year by the third year, we should be back to making amount of money that we were making before.

  • So the negotiation was tough.

  • Obviously, um, they wanted mawr.

  • We wanted less goes back and forth.

  • But as you said, when you when you do things in good faith, eventually you will come up with a solution.

  • There's always given taken any kind of negotiation.

  • What was what were some of the things that you think basketball has learned?

  • Obviously, you guys were in a bubble, but you're not being a bubble this upcoming season from the likes of MLB or NFL.

  • As far as moving forward, no question.

  • And the fact that you know the onus is on the players themselves.

  • Once you get out of the bubble, it's on the players.

  • Thio conduct themselves in a way that, well, you know, will allow you toe try to stay Kobe free.

  • Obviously we were grown men and what we could do whatever we want to do.

  • But, um, the situations where you miss games, um, you know, you put your teammate to the risk to miss games, and obviously the whole organization, you have to keep that in mind once you're doing whatever you're doing outside outside of the gym outside of the court, I'm assuming we will be getting tested every day.

  • Um, but at the same time, it's on us to make sure where I'm ask, wash our hands, do things to continue to prevent Um uh, contracting, covert, and obviously spreading it.

  • Now we're part of the compromise.

  • Be, um, that And to be understood that low management would be accepted.

  • I know they want to start to play on the big games, like, you know, Christmas.

  • But you do have that we all have to understand and accept that, you know, is going to be a certain amount of players that have, ah, unfair advantage because they haven't fully recovered from the previous season.

  • Agreed.

  • I mean, I think I think, uh, Adam will understand that mawr this year, um, you know, TV partners will understand that a little more this year than in previous years because, as you see it, the Lakers in Miami heat just finished about a month ago in terms of playing the championship game and training camp starts less than three weeks from now are about three weeks from now.

  • So the fact that guys, they're gonna be getting right back into it.

  • And again, some guys they're gonna have had, you know, um, almost a year off s.

  • So it's gonna be very interesting for different teams.

  • I think again, the fact that we don't have it really back to back there was a scenario to start in January.

  • If we would have finished in before the Olympics, it would have been 22 back to back.

  • This scenario that we decided to take on Lee on Lee has this plan 13 or 14, which is the norm.

  • Um, so we'll have just about the same amount of back to backs and, uh, a zoo.

  • Say it, guys, we'll have played for a long time and they'll they'll need a little more rest unusual.

  • Alright, GT, let me get you to take your M v p a vice president cap off and put your player cap on.

  • You know, you know what we love to do with the media man?

  • Everybody starts this whole thing up her.

  • Stephen A.

  • Smith.

  • Talk about this.

  • Where's championship or bust?

  • Four Year of Brooklyn Nets team.

  • Obviously, you guys get k d.

  • He's been there for a year coming up that Achilles injury.

  • Kyrie Guys have Spencer of yourself.

  • You have Caris.

  • Levert?

  • How has everything been thus far?

  • With you guys is a team.

  • Obviously bonding is something that needs to happen.

  • That that's had to have been difficult, considering everything we're doing with Cove it No question.

  • Um, it has a pretty difficult last year, Katie.

  • With Iran a lot.

  • Uh, obviously Kyrie was around, um, so that that helps, but has been, you know, 78 months since the pandemic.

  • It and Onley probably seven guys that were on the original squad went.

  • Thio went to Orlando and the other guys, a lot of them got together in l.

  • A.

  • Um, since we've been finished, we've, you know, been in L.

  • A.

  • People have been in L.

  • A New York.

  • I've been in New York, uh, with my with my with my kid now and now back in Louisiana and his family for the quick turnaround.

  • So it's gonna be, you know, the onus is gonna be on training camp trying to make sure we get that camaraderie trying to make sure we get that chemistry down.

  • Ah, but I think the fact that guys were just basketball players, their own guys that have to do certain things.

  • Guys can really just hoop.

  • And we got a lot of guys that just know how to play basketball.

  • I think that's gonna help help us.

  • But, you know, in terms of championship of bus, the talent we have, I think that's the mindset.

  • The guys they're going in with the mind that we want.

  • You know, we wanna win a championship.

  • There's only one winner, you know.

  • It's like Ricky.

  • Bobby said either you first or you laughed s a t end of the day.

  • You know, there are no moral victories, no moral victories when you have the talent that we have and you know the ability that we have.

  • We were definitely trying to win.

  • How how have you guys dealt with the media?

  • Right, Because reading an article, it was Steve Nash A said this was going to be a collaborative effort, But then when Kyrie said it's gonna be a collaborative effort, obviously it turned into this major story that hey, they're trying toe, you know, say that they're gonna outdo Steve Nash and obviously a new coaching staff.

  • How do you guys envision all of this working?

  • It's gonna work, man.

  • Because at the end of the day in basketball, we got, you know, obviously Steve Nash guy, that was my stroll in the court, Um, And then to bring in the step that he's they've been able to assemble and coach D'Antoni, um, he may, um obviously the people that he's brought back ah, you know, and then being able to, you know, Coach guys like Kyrie Irving that is one of championship.

  • Katie, That has been M V P.

  • 112 championships and and and obviously, like you said, the caress is the Spencers, The D Andres, guys that have been around, um, Joe Harris is if we're able to get him back.

  • I think at the end of the day, things will work out the way they're supposed to.

  • And, um, you know, Steve is the type of guy you know, getting the norm.

  • That is very collaborative.

  • He's the guy that asked a lot of questions, wants you to talk, wants you to speak up, trying to figure out things eso at the today.

  • We can't worry about what the media says.

  • We understand who the guys on our team are, and that's all that matters.

  • Thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming sports and premium content subscribed to ESPN plus right now.

How were those negotiations when you guys were in those rooms to think about?

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