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Much has been made about the possibility of shortening the regular season starting next year. A lot of sides have come out and more than a few points have been made. New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum has chimed in on the debate and clearly, the former Most Improved Player winner isn't happy about certain parts of the narrative.
Speaking on his first appearance on ESPN's First Take, McCollum expressed why he believes there are so many factors involved in this decision. What the Pelicans star is adamant about, however, is that it's wrong to say that this transition would be for the sole benefit of the players:
“You have to adapt or you die,” McCollum said. “… The game evolved. The way the game has played has evolved. The TV licensing deals have evolved… I think the issue here and what we have to address and figure out is, what's best for the game. Obviously, there's financial implications, there's a revenue situation that we have to figure out. What's best for the governors, what's best for the players, and what's the happy medium. But to say that this rule is appeasing players is blasphemy because there's a lot of players that just want to play 82 games.”
McCollum then went on to say that from his own personal standpoint, he will naturally give a higher priority to the well-being of the players. However, he also understands that this isn't just all about them:
“All these things are just being discussed right now, there's no definitive plan of action,” continued the Pelicans guard. “… Me as a player personally, I wanna do what's best to protect the interest of us, whatever that looks like… We have to stop assuming that this is for the players. How do we not know the league as a whole to make the game better?”
.@CJMcCollum didn’t hold back on his first appearance on First Take when discussing the idea of a shortened NBA season. pic.twitter.com/6pcDLA4a5G
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 6, 2022
McCollum makes some very interesting arguments here and it is clear that he has a lot to say about this issue. Sounds like ESPN has found itself another gem in the Pelicans guard.
