Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving drew a lot of attention when he said he was against the NBA resumption. The Athletic reported that during the conference call with 80 players, he said “I don’t support going into Orlando. I’m not with systematic racism and bullshit. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are targeted as black men every day we wake up.”

A few other players like Avery Bradley, Dwight Howard, and Carmelo Anthony also made similar statements. But Los Angeles Lakers forward Jared Dudley went on to Spectrum SportsNet to explain the financial implications if the NBA doesn’t return. ESPN’s Bobby Marks said that $1.2B would be lost in player salary in case the players refuse to play.

Contrasting opinions in the Brooklyn Nets camp

Meanwhile the Nets’ other guard, veteran Garrett Temple has come out with a contradictory statement. While speaking to ESPN he said, “I can’t in good conscience tell my brethren to throw away millions of dollars in order to create change that I don’t see the direct impact of — if there was a direct impact of laws changing, that would be a different story.”

Temple was elected as one of the Vice Presidents of the NBPA in 2017. He was one of the leaders in Sacramento and even at his time in Washington.

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In his conversation with ESPN, Temple said that closing the economic gap would be one way to move towards racial quality. He said that the players and teams invited to Orlando can use that opportunity to come up with solutions together. “One reason for us to go to Orlando is while we’re there, we can talk amongst each other and maybe come up with a plan, maybe come up with some type of action. We need to come together and come up with something. The attention is going to be on us when we’re in that bubble.”

The NBA plans to resume the season on 31st July. The Disney World Resort at Orlando will be the sole venue and players won’t be allowed to leave midway. So this is one reason why there is hesitation, along with other reasons like family situations and safety concerns.