Wizards’ Rashard Lewis says he’s not to blame for huge contract but he’s ‘willing to sacrifice’
Julie Jacobson/AP -
Rashard Lewis of the Wizards listens with about 35 other
members of the NBA Players Association during a news conference.
Contracts like the one Rashard Lewis signed with the Orlando Magic in
2007 are a point of contention in the labor dispute between NBA owners
and players.
LAS VEGAS — When the NBA last locked out its players in 1998, Rashard Lewis
was a teenager living in his mother’s house. He didn’t know what it
meant to miss NBA checks because the Seattle SuperSonics had yet to pay
him after selecting him in the second round.
But Lewis has much more to lose during this lockout, with a
salary that would make him the second-highest paid player in the league
next season at $22 million.
He could lose some or all of that money, depending on how long the lockout lasts, but the veteran forward fully supports the players’ union
and plans to do whatever it takes to ensure that future generations of
NBA players can experience the same benefits past veterans fought for in
the last labor dispute.
“I’m willing to sacrifice my salary to get a fair deal,” Lewis said after playing a game with Washington Wizards teammates John Wall, Jordan Crawford and JaVale McGee here at the Impact Basketball Competitive Training Series. “It’s only fair.”
NBA
Commissioner David Stern and the owners contend that a system that
allows a player such as Lewis — who made his last all-star appearance
2009 — to make more money than any player not named Kobe Bryant is an
example of a broken economic model that needs to be fixed for the
overall good of the league. Lewis averaged 11.7 points and 5.1 rebounds
per game in 57 games last season.
Lewis believes he shouldn’t be blamed for the six-year, $118 million contract he signed with the Orlando Magic in the summer of 2007.
“Talk
to the owner. He gave me the deal,” Lewis said. “When it comes to
contracts, the players aren’t sitting there negotiating that contract.
I’m sitting at home and my agent calls me, saying, ‘I got a max on the
table.’ I’m not going to sit there and say, ‘Naw, that’s too much. Go
out there and negotiate $20 or $30 [million] less.’ ”
“I thought
my agent did a good job of negotiating my contract, and at the time I
was coming out of Seattle, averaging 23 points, playing well. It was
perfect timing for me,” Lewis continued. “At the same time, I understand
the owners don’t want to overpay players, but you’ve got to do better
negotiating. Try your best to save money.”
NBA owners are pushing for a hard salary cap similar to the financial structure in the NHL, which Wizards and Capitals
owner Ted Leonsis once said saved him from taking “stupid pills.” The
union has been opposed to accepting anything dramatically different from
the last collective bargaining agreement, though they are willing to
reduce their share of the $4 billion in basketball-related revenue. With
little progress made in last week’s negotiating session in New York,
Lewis believes this could be a lengthy battle.
“It’s not good news
that we’ve been hearing, and it could take a while. But I’ve been
encouraging guys to stay in shape and stay in the gym because, who
knows? One day, the lockout may end and they say, you have to go to camp
in one week. Just like the NFL got a deal together in the last minute,”
Lewis said.
“We may miss half the season or the whole season.
But you don’t want to be thinking about that every day. You can still
get in the gym and work out. The last lockout, I remember a couple of
guys came in out of shape. One of those guys was Vin Baker. I’ve seen
guys suffer from the lockout.”
Lewis joined the Wizards last December in a deal for former franchise player Gilbert Arenas,
which was seen as a swap of stale contracts. Lewis’s season was cut
short in March because of a recurring problem with tendinitis in his
right knee. He avoided surgery by having a platelet-rich plasma
procedure that he believed would encourage a more natural healing
process.
His primary focus this offseason was rehabilitating his
knee at the Plex training facility in Houston and regaining some
explosiveness so that he could resemble the player he was in Seattle.
The 6-foot-10 Lewis has shown a more well-rounded game in Las Vegas,
slashing to the basket, catching alley-oop dunks and trying to abandon
the reputation he established for being a spot-up, three-point shooter
in Orlando.
Lewis, 32, also got married in August to his longtime
girlfriend, Giovanna Fortes, at a resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
“As she would say, it was long overdue,” Lewis said with a laugh. “Been
with my girlfriend 11 long years, got two kids [Gianna and Rashard Jr.].
But my whole summer has been revolving around my family, with the
wedding and rehabbing.”
The labor situation has created some
logistical problems for Lewis, since he wants to continue to stay in
shape but doesn’t have access to the Wizards’ training facilities. His
daughter started school in the District, forcing him to commute
back-and-forth from Houston. This time around, Lewis can’t just stay at
home.
“I don’t want to stop my training and become a
house-husband,” he said. “Of course, I would like the lockout to end and
continue to get paid off the deal I have now. But it’s not just about
me. One guy can’t determine the lockout. The whole thing is, we’re
trying to make sure we get a fair deal for guys like John Wall and
Jordan Crawford, JaVale McGee, for the future of the NBA. The guys
before me made the way for me, so we’ve got to keep it going.”
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Da da, nisi ti kriv, kriva je budaletina koja te tolko pre-platila. A da je nudio manje agent bi počeo sa prijetnjama da će otići igrat negdje drugdje 
[uredio madmax17 - 25. rujna 2011. u 01:17]
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