Could Chris Paul replace Derek Fisher?
Posted by Unknown on Sunday, April 22, 2012 with No comments
In a telephone interview, Maurice Evans who is a member of the NBPA Executive Committee, shared his thoughts about the rift between union leaders Billy Hunter and Derek Fisher. During the interview Evans even endorsed a temporary replacement for Fisher should he step down.
“This is petty in my opinion and we’re losing focus on the big picture,” Evans said in a telephone interview. “It’s extremely disappointing to me personally because we, Billy, Derek and myself became extremely close throughout this process and we accomplished so many great things, along with the other executive committee members, on behalf of all of the players. Coming off the heels of the lockout, in the midst of…a great season, with great parity, the CBA is functioning very well. And now it seems that we’re losing credibility behind something that could be avoided.”
The committee setup a conference call to allow Fisher to explain his stance and Evans responded with the following:
“Derek was unable to answer those questions and unfortunately.”
“That gave the board extreme confidence, which we already had in Billy, and fully the confidence of the board was lost in Derek’s ability to continue as president,” Evans said. “It’s nothing personal with Derek. Again, it has nothing to do with Derek’s ability as a basketball player or Derek’s character as a man. It’s relative to Derek’s ability at this time as president of the union.”
“I don’t think that anyone is defaming his character. Again, even in the statement issued by the PA, we applauded his leadership throughout and I think it’s just pretty much, it’s time to go our separate ways,” Evans said. “We tried to handle this internally and for whatever reason, things have gone public that he’s trying to conduct business of the union without our authority. I’m not sure why this is turning into Derek versus the PA or Derek versus Billy or Derek versus Mo. This isn’t a game. No one is trying to assassinate his character in any way.”
“He’s been busy or withdrawn or however he characterizes it. I think as a result, we’re trying to help the union function better and again, to function better then everybody is present and active,” Evans said. “Derek hasn’t made any decisions on his own, regarding the players. The executive committee, jointly, makes every decision and I think the problem is that the executive committee, we’re not on the same page. That’s where the problem is. We’re trying to pull Derek back into the fold, but for some reason, he’s still kind of isolated to make these decisions. So we’re asking him to enlighten us on why he feels this way, he has been unable to satisfy the board with his concerns. That’s been a problem.”
“Billy sent us an email and said, if he wasn’t acting in a way that was becoming to the executive committee and the general body that he would willingly resign,” Evans said. “He answered those questions to our satisfaction. But again, when we asked Derek to do the same thing, Derek declined to come on the phone.”
“This is petty in my opinion and we’re losing focus on the big picture,” Evans said in a telephone interview. “It’s extremely disappointing to me personally because we, Billy, Derek and myself became extremely close throughout this process and we accomplished so many great things, along with the other executive committee members, on behalf of all of the players. Coming off the heels of the lockout, in the midst of…a great season, with great parity, the CBA is functioning very well. And now it seems that we’re losing credibility behind something that could be avoided.”
The committee setup a conference call to allow Fisher to explain his stance and Evans responded with the following:
“Derek was unable to answer those questions and unfortunately.”
“That gave the board extreme confidence, which we already had in Billy, and fully the confidence of the board was lost in Derek’s ability to continue as president,” Evans said. “It’s nothing personal with Derek. Again, it has nothing to do with Derek’s ability as a basketball player or Derek’s character as a man. It’s relative to Derek’s ability at this time as president of the union.”
“I don’t think that anyone is defaming his character. Again, even in the statement issued by the PA, we applauded his leadership throughout and I think it’s just pretty much, it’s time to go our separate ways,” Evans said. “We tried to handle this internally and for whatever reason, things have gone public that he’s trying to conduct business of the union without our authority. I’m not sure why this is turning into Derek versus the PA or Derek versus Billy or Derek versus Mo. This isn’t a game. No one is trying to assassinate his character in any way.”
“He’s been busy or withdrawn or however he characterizes it. I think as a result, we’re trying to help the union function better and again, to function better then everybody is present and active,” Evans said. “Derek hasn’t made any decisions on his own, regarding the players. The executive committee, jointly, makes every decision and I think the problem is that the executive committee, we’re not on the same page. That’s where the problem is. We’re trying to pull Derek back into the fold, but for some reason, he’s still kind of isolated to make these decisions. So we’re asking him to enlighten us on why he feels this way, he has been unable to satisfy the board with his concerns. That’s been a problem.”
“Billy sent us an email and said, if he wasn’t acting in a way that was becoming to the executive committee and the general body that he would willingly resign,” Evans said. “He answered those questions to our satisfaction. But again, when we asked Derek to do the same thing, Derek declined to come on the phone.”
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