Holdout? More like Hold-up!

Chris Paul is meeting with the Hornets who plan to convince him they make the team a title contender. Reports have surfaced of the point guard’s desire to follow Lebron's footsteps and join another superstar and push for a championship. I think Paul forcing the Hornets to make moves with the leverage of his moving is ridiculous especially considering he doesn’t really have leverage.

As NFL training camps approach it is typical to find rising superstars or established veterans threatening to sit out unless teams meet their demands, often using holding out to hold teams hostage. A string of superb Sundays can result in big paydays even for players under contract.

I have no problem with that even though I strongly believe that if you are under contract you honor the commitment you made. However, in a league where a team can play a player LESS if he underperforms by cutting him and not even paying him at all, over the years he was promised, I think its fair for a player to demand more if he does well.

“It a no-brainer and only makes sense for a player to make more cents while he can, especially if the effects of his profession could be negative and detrimental to his brain”

Also, football is a sport where players put their bodies on the line and risk their futures. Increased research is revealing the damages done to those now retired. The constant collisions are likened to mini car crashes. More and more retirees are suffering from different forms of dementia. It a no-brainer and only makes sense for a player to make more cents if the effect of his profession could be negative on his brain.

The NBA is different. Paul wants to play for the Magic or the Knicks, a team where Larry “Grandma-ma” Johnson who was getting paid top dollars as he moved closer to becoming the age of a grand-pa and Allan Houston is STILL on the Knicks payroll (albeit as an assistant and GM candidate).

If Paul doesn’t want to play for the Hornets then he should well it doesn’t matter because he’s under contract, one he signed. If he wants to leave to another team when his contracts up then he’s free to do so just like Lebron, who although with hometown ties had every right to. In the meantime, he should just play and do his part, not the GM, to make them a title contender.