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Washington Wizards’ Paul Pierce takes shot at NBA union

By Phil Watson

Sep 29, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce (34) poses for a portrait during Wizards Media Day at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 29, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce (34) poses for a portrait during Wizards Media Day at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce has been around the NBA a long time, long enough to have lived through both the 1998 lockout that wiped out four months of the league’s schedule and the 2011 labor stoppage by the owners that knocked out nearly two months.

Pierce, who will be 37 on Oct. 13, is entering his first season with the Wizards—his second straight season with a new team after playing his first 15 years with the Boston Celtics.

As part of a broader interview with NBA.com’s David Aldridge, Pierce took a little swipe at the National Basketball Players Association.

In a hypothetical discussion about what he will tell his son, how just a year old, when showing him a scrapbook of his career, Pierce said:

"“I’m gonna tell him dad was a hard worker. But he’s gonna be in the new generation—I don’t want to hear none of that. But that’s all right. I’m gonna have this for you, just in case you want to go back to the library, or to the office, I’m gonna show you, son. You’ve gotta beat this now. No pressure on him.“Actually, I want him to be a baseball player. They’ve got a better union.”"

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The union, under new executive director Michele Roberts, does face some challenges, considering the salary cap is going to increase by nearly $30 million per season per team in the wake of the new nine-year, $24 billion television contract the NBA

announced

Monday.

Commissioner Adam Silver said he wants to smooth the increase rather than go with what would be a projected increase from just more than $63 million this season to as much as $91.2 million for 2016-17.

Silver cited the NFL’s efforts to smooth its cap increases, a process that hasn’t been particularly smooth.

The current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2017 and in the wake of this contract, prominent players such as LeBron James and Deron Williams have already gone on record as saying the owners can’t cry poor this time around.

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