BOSTON — Keyon Dooling is mostly happy with the way this lockout-shortened season developed. But the fact that union business has been made public several times, most recently last week, does not sit well with him.
Multiple reports on Friday suggested a rift within the NBA Players Association, of which Dooling is first vice president. Yahoo Sports and SI.com reported that union president Derek Fisher was pushing for an internal review of the union's business practices under executive director Billy Hunter despite the apparent objections of the executive committee. The union issued a statement saying the committee had given Fisher an 8-0 no-confidence vote.
Dooling declined to comment on union business following the Celtics' win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday, but he did express disappointment that the matter became public.
"I'm sure that every organization has their disagreements and has different positions, but the great thing that a lot of organizations do is, they keep it in house," Dooling said. "Whether we have problems within our team, there's something special about keeping it in house and dealing with things in house. When it gets out, it leaves a black eye."
Reports of a fissure within the players association first surfaced during the lockout, and the tension may have been greatest when FOX Sports reported in October that Fisher was negotiating a secret deal with the league. Fisher vehemently denied the report.
Despite the alleged rift and the challenging schedule that followed the lockout, Dooling said he was encouraged by the season the union was able to help salvage in its negotiations with the league.
"Now I understand what the guys who were here in '98 when we had a lockout mean when they talk about playing game, game, game," Dooling said. "Every day is the same. Sometimes you lose track of the days. You lose track of where you are in the seedings.
"But what else better could we be doing besides playing this great game of basketball and entertaining our fans all across the country and all across the world? I'm glad we were able to have a season. Even though it was condensed, it was still productive. Some young stars emerged. Some guys are going to be retired after this as well. We'll take the good with the bad, but overall I think we did a good job of getting back and giving our fans what they want."
Due to the shortened schedule, there is a game to watch or news to catch up on every day. Dooling would just prefer that union issues were not among them.
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