Danny Green says he thinks most of the Lakers still want to resume the NBA season, is optimistic it will happen

Over the last 24 hours, the news cycle has been filled with rumors and reports about discord in the National Basketball Players Association, culminating in a call led by Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving and Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley, a meeting during which multiple Lakers and other players around the league — including veteran center Dwight Howard — expressed a hesitancy about resuming the 2019-20 season, wanting to consider whether NBPA members should instead focus on pursuing social justice causes and combating systemic racism.

Lakers star LeBron James wasn’t on that call, and it turns out neither was the Lakers’ NBPA representative, Danny Green. Green did, however, still make his voice heard on Friday night anyway, speaking to Mark Medina of USA Today about the current state of negotiations between the league and the players.

The whole Q and A is worth a read, with Green explaining how the vote to approve the league’s return-to-play format and begin negotiations on the safety protocol worked, why he wasn’t on Irving and Bradley’s call and much more, but particularly notable for the purposes of a Lakers blog — especially in the wake of last night’s news — was Green saying that he thinks most of his teammates are still in favor or resuming the season:

So with that said, did you sense most of the guys were in favor of resuming the season as opposed to feeling there’s too much risk involved?

Green: ”I think most guys wanted the season to come back. I didn’t think guys were against the season coming back or wanting it to be canceled. We’re all for it and didn’t want to lose out on the season. They didn’t want to lose out on winning a championship. They didn’t want to lose out on maximizing their dollar. If we lost the season, we would’ve lost a good portion of our checks.”

We should note that Green wasn’t specifically asked about the report that multiple Lakers are mulling over the idea of stopping the season, but still, this his comments are somewhat notable given that Green — in his role as the Lakers’ player rep — is supposed to be gauging the pulse of his team and voting accordingly. If he thinks that most of his teammates are still in favor of playing, that’s worth paying attention to.

Also worth noting is that Green is still optimistic the season is going to get going, even in the wake of the news of last night:

Where do you see things going from here with the players’ union’s talks?

Green: ”It’s becoming more and more consistent. It’s becoming more common. It’s going in the right direction. It can only be better if we have the communication and continue it.”

What’s your level of optimism the season will resume as planned?

Green: ”Right now they reported that in Orlando everything is set. So I haven’t heard anything differently.”

For anyone hoping the season will still resume on its current schedule, that’s good news. Still, if Green wasn’t on the call, he also may not know for sure just how much league-wide dissent was voiced, and how powerful this movement to stop the season might be. We also don’t know yet where the union will go from here.

Will this demonstration lead to every player getting a vote to decide whether or not to resume the season, rather than their reps voting on their behalf? Will there be enough players not wanting to play to shut the season down? We just don’t have the answers to those questions yet, but Green’s perspective is still significant because of his role in the process and due to the fact that this is a player coming out on the record and saying that they still think there will be a season, even in the wake of the fireworks of Friday night.

We’ll see if Green’s sense is right as this process continues to take place over the next several weeks, but for those of you still holding out hope the season will continue, this should give you at least a little more.

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