NBA Lockout: Derek Fisher's Backcourt Stepping Up at Crucial Time

Lakers guards Kobe Bryant and Steve Blake have been running a full-court press to help fellow teammate and NBA Players Association President Derek Fisher corral support for a consensus on the latest owners' proposal before the Wednesday doomsday deadline.

As reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Kobe Bryant adamantly urged players and owners to resume negotiations.

Said Bryant:

"

“We need for the two sides to get together again before Wednesday, because we’re too close to getting a deal done... We need to iron out the last system items and save this from spiraling into a nuclear winter.”

"

Public statements such as these from the NBA's most heralded superstar have been spared during this protracted lockout. And, despite calls for Bryant to be more vocal and active in the negotiations, Bryant has largely withheld.

Until now. 

When the best closer in the game releases this kind of statement, you know we're in the fourth quarter and hopefully close to finishing this thing off.

Fisher's other backcourt partner, Steve Blake, has also been doing his part to help Fish get consensus on the latest deal from the owners. Blake has been hitting the phone lines, contacting players across the union and urging them to give their player representatives a "yes" or "no" vote on the proposal over the past few days.

Player representatives can thus have a better handle on their teammates' stance when the union meets Tuesday to discuss action before the owners' Wednesday deadline.

Interestingly, the Yahoo! Sports report suggests that Blake is in favor of the owners' current deal. 

Is this opinion privately shared by Derek Fisher? We can't speculate. But it's not wild to think Blake and Fish, given their close relationship as teammates, share the same opinion on this deal.

With Wednesday's deadline fast approaching, the NBA Players Association needs all the support they can get in order to make an informed decision that's best for the players and the league. 

Regardless of the outcome, it's certainly refreshing to see Derek Fisher's backcourt, Kobe Bryant and Steve Blake, chipping in to help their teammate in this arduous quest for a compromise.

Laker loyalty runs deep, even under the toughest of circumstances.

UPDATE: After a meeting within the union Tuesday, players rejected the proposed deal. Fisher and the rest of the players want compromise on system elements which the owners failed to open up for discussion in their latest proposal. The next move from the players/owners is anyone's guess. 

UPDATE 2: David Stern went on NBA TV after the players' decision and said the offer would not change and there was no "wiggle room" left. With players refusing to accept the current offer, a vote for decertification of the union appears likely unless the owners find more areas to compromise. Decertification is taken if more than half of the approximate 430 players union votes in favor of the move. The vote would take place 45 days after filing the request.