A spat between Clippers star Patrick Beverley and player's union director Michele Roberts punctuated talks to return to the court as the league announced NBA playoff games will resume on Sunday.
Both sides struck an agreement Friday on plans for greater social justice and racial equality measures following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Yet things turned ugly during meetings with feisty Los Angeles Clippers star Pat Beverley admonished by fellow stars in the league over a clash with Roberts
According to Chris Haynes from Yahoo Sports, Roberts was discussing the financial impact if players choose to abandon the season when Beverley interrupted.
Apparently Roberts asked if she could continue politely per the report and Beverley hit back saying: "No, I pay your salary"," Haynes reported.
Fellow players, among them Chris Paul, intervened and made it clear to Beverley that disrespect would not be tolerated.
As Haynes' report on Beverley gained more attention, NBA fans also voiced their displeasure with Beverley's reaction.
However, Beverley's teammate Ivica Zubac said on Twitter that those comments were never made.
https://twitter.com/TheBMartin/status/1299369391348277250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/ivicazubac/status/1299367932368216064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/Followthe_LAW/status/1299363923666362368?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwBeverley addressed the exchange with Roberts and said things had been resolved.
"We had a very interesting conversation. PA is like a family…Everyone is part of a family. You don't always agree with your family members and that's OK.
"You communicate about it and you try to make it better. Whatever the dialogue was and whatever you guys think it is, we made things better yesterday meeting with the owners. And that's the most important."
Despite the clash the players agreed to return to the floor to complete the season.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Roberts said in a joint statement that "All parties agreed to resume NBA playoff games on Saturday."
Players spoke with NBA team owners (governors) about their desire to see the league undertake broader measures for social change and become partners with the players in trying to eradicate social injustice.
"We look forward to the resumption of the playoffs and continuing to work together -- in Orlando and in all NBA team markets -- to push for meaningful and sustainable change," the joint statement said.
"We had a candid, impassioned and productive conversation yesterday between NBA players, coaches and team governors regarding next steps to further our collective efforts and actions in support of social justice and racial equality." Players and the NBA established a social justice coalition, with representatives from players, coaches and team owners to focus on a broad range of issues, including increasing access to voting, promoting civic engagement and advocating meaningful police and criminal justice reform.
Under the agreement, in cities where the NBA team owns and controls its own arena, team owners will work with local elections officials to convert the facility into a voting location for the 2020 US general election, allowing safe in-person voting options in communities fearful of COVID-19.
If that option won't work, NBA team owners will try to find another election-related use for the arena, such as for voter registration or ballot counting.
The league vowed to work with players and broadcast partners on advertisements in each playoff telecast dedicated to promoting greater civic engagement in elections.
"These commitments follow months of close collaboration around designing a safe and healthy environment to restart the NBA season, providing a platform to promote social justice, as well as creating an NBA Foundation focused on economic empowerment in the Black community," the statement said.
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/basketball/nba-news-patrick-beverley-michele-roberts/842c704b-e0b1-4bec-ba45-84ba1ffbeaf9
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