Drew Gooden Talks to B/R About the NBA Lockout During Charity Game

Drew Gooden hosted the Make-A-Wish Charity game Sunday night in the Bay Area at the Cow Palace.

While the game itself didn't really have an NBA feel to it or even an open gym feel to it, the cause they were playing for, and the time they gave to the kids attending, to go with the donation they were able to raise for charity made it all worthwhile.

The "game" featured numerous NBA stars like James Harden, Eric Gordon, Demar Derozan, Joakim Noah and Shawn Marion to name a few.

Drew Gooden was kind enough to speak with me after the game as I asked him, if it was tough to get all these guys together?

Gooden said, "Not at all, I have a relationship with these guys, and they all did a great job. It was unbelievable that we were able to put this thing together this fast, and we were able to raise $10,000 to help a great charity."

Drew Gooden, who grew up in the Bay Area attending El Cerrito High, said, "It was great to be playing so close to home. It feels bad that it's not an NBA game, but it was great to make this thing happen tonight."

One of the highlights of the game was the U.S. debut of Ricky Rubio. While no questions were answered regarding his defensive or shooting ability—as the total defense in this game was about as strong as the defense Sandusky is bringing to his trial—Rubio did have some dazzling passes, and his vision and creativity is something that we haven't seen in a while.

When asked about Rubio, Gooden said, "You saw him—he's a trip. He has the chance to be the next Pistol Pete."

We all miss NBA basketball now that the lockout is described as a "nuclear winter"—the same can be said about the NBA TV schedule. I can't tell you how many times I've seen the Los Angels Lakers and Boston Celtics play the 1984 Finals and now they have come up with Classic Quarters, combined that with the endless repeats of One-on-One. It's painfully time for real NBA games. It's not just the owners and players that are suffering, most every NBA fan is as well.

When probed about how he feels when he hears the term “lockout”, Gooden said, "When I hear lockout, it shows me that this is a business. We're on strike too now. When pilots go on strike, the planes can't fly, we don't own the planes, but we're still flying. It was great that all these guys were able to come out tonight."

As Billy Hunter and Derek Fisher are at the head of this "nuclear winter" guiding the players, I asked Gooden if he feels like Hunter and Fisher are doing the right thing for the players union. Gooden stated, "They are negotiating in good faith, but right now we are in a stalemate with the owners. We just have to wait and see what happens."

I asked him when this lockout eventually ends if there is going to be any resentment between the players and the owners, and Gooden said, "I believe so, but I think it will die down quick once the new rules get in just like the last C.B.A. We were kind of bitter during the last C.B.A—it’s just something that happens. We'll get over it after a few games, then it's just back to playing basketball."

Even as we all saw this NBA lockout coming years ago, it doesn’t make it any easier to turn on our television and the only NBA news you see is ‘two more weeks have been canceled, next meeting scheduled two weeks from now’, or whenever they feel like it.

Being around the players last night, one thing resounded through all of them—they want the lockout to end, and it’s not just them. I want the lockout to end, you want it to end, all the NBA fans want the lockout to end, and especially the producers of NBA TV want the lockout to end. The reality is, all we can do is be patient.

Drew Gooden agreed and wanted to make sure to tell all of the NBA fans out there to “Always know that the basketball players want to play for you guys.”

Believe me, we are ready to see it.