NBPA President Chris Paul is doing what he can to keep in contact with his fellow members. Paul participated in yesterday's CAA World Congress Comes To You virtual event and said of the NBPA Exec Committee, “We're on calls daily, weekly, not only about getting back to play but how to be there for our players, trying to inform them on how we'll be paid going forward, or also just being an encourager. It's hard to stay focused and train during a time like this. So it's been an experience for all of us. But I think the good thing about us is that we're all trying to get through it together.” Paul said he is balancing each individual’s interest and that of the players as a whole. The bottom line for him these days is that whatever way the league wants to move forward, health needs to be given top priority. “Even though there are negotiations that have to be had at some point and everyone's always like, ‘It's us against them,’ everything has been so collaborative since play stopped," he said. "Adam (Silver) has been great in communicating with us. That's the biggest thing as you know, in any situation. As long as you communicate and players feel like they're informed in what's going on, I think everything works smoothly” (Joe Perez, THE DAILY).
TO BE DETERMINED: On players potentially being sequestered in one state, city or venue to complete the NBA season, Paul said, "There are so many layers that would have to come into play for that to even happen. ... There’s a lot of hypotheticals out there. And that’s great that everyone’s brainstorming, and it’s nice that everybody wants us to play. But I think the safety of the players, their families, fans, everyone -- all that comes before any of that." Paul also made it clear that it "wouldn’t be reasonable to expect players to restart games without 'at least three to four weeks' of training" (OKLAHOMAN, 4/23).
