With NBA labor talks ongoing, Spike Lee is calling for the players to stick together and for everyone to find the “middle ground.”
During an interview at Footaction prior to the release for his new Jordan Brand sneaker, the Spizike, Lee expressed his feelings about the NBA lockout, saying he believes the players need to stick together at this time rather than decertifying or as Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire has hinted at, starting their own league.
“We’ll have to see if that [players creating a league] is going to happen. I think right now what they have to do is make sure they keep the players unified before people start breaking off,” Lee told the Post.
The players and owners reconvened earlier this week amid threats of the players union decertifying, which would change the nature of the talks, giving the union more leverage in negotiations. Only thirty percent of the players are needed in order for the union to decertify.
Lee has hopes that an agreement can be reached soon and talked about how the lockout is not just having a negative effect on the basketball world, but it is also hurting the businesses that surround Madison Square Garden.
“It comes down to money. There’s got to be a middle ground somewhere. It’s affecting people, a lot of people. I bet Footaction doesn’t make as much money because before the game people come in here before the game. This whole area thrives on it, when you have 20,000 people in the Garden everyone makes money here,” Lee said.
When and if basketball does return to the Garden this year, Lee has high expectations for the Knicks, and he believes that they will be a contender for the NBA title sooner rather than later.
“We have a great team and I keep telling my son Jackson that one day, very soon, the Knicks will have an NBA championship. People might think I’ve been smoking something but we’re going to have a championship,” Lee said.
Lee, who grew up in Brooklyn, also has his sights set on invading the Nets new arena in Brooklyn when it opens next year, and made it clear that he is still a die-hard Knicks fan.
“Now that the Nets are moving to Brooklyn, people have been asking me where my allegiances lie. It’s still with the orange and blue, I have no hatred for the Nets, Jay-Z has been trying to work on me but that isn’t going to happen. I’m looking forward to the first regular season game where the Knicks play at the Barclays Center. That’s a game you have to go to, that’s going to be crazy,” Lee said.