Mo Evans on his NBA career, experience as NBPA VP and what went on during the 2011 lockout

In the latest episode of The HoopsHype Podcast, Alex Kennedy talks with Mo Evans, who played nine years in the NBA and served as the Vice President of the National Basketball Players Association during the 2011 lockout. They discussed a wide variety of topics. Here are the time-stamps:

1:30: As a rookie, Mo played 10 games with the Minnesota Timberwolves and then spent two years overseas in Greece and Italy before making it back to the NBA. What was that experience like?

3:20: Was he ever worried that you weren’t going to make it to the NBA?

5:00: How much of succeeding in the NBA is making sacrifices for the team, and what are the keys to being a successful NBA journeyman?

8:15: Of all the organizations he played for, which was the best in terms of how it was run?

10:05: How did Mo become Vice President of the National Basketball Players Association? Also, why did he want that job? It requires a lot of time and energy, yet there’s no extra pay or benefits.

11:30: Mo helped craft the current Collective Bargaining Agreement and I think we can all agree the NBA is thriving right now, with team valuations through the roof and players getting paid lucrative contracts. Is he proud of the deal and the role he played in the league’s current state?

12:30: What was a typical day like during the 2011 lockout?

13:35: There were some allegations about NBPA President Derek Fisher looking out for himself during the labor talks. And toward the end of the work stoppage, Fisher took a backseat and Evans actually conducted the press conferences. How much of an obstacle was that as the  NBPA was trying to negotiate a deal?

15:35: Now, the NBPA’s President is Chris Paul and the VP is LeBron James. How important is it to have those big-name players involved in the negotiations?

17:30: There’s a lot of money to fight over now and just today an ESPN report came out saying that nearly half of NBA teams are losing money. Does Mo think we’ll see another lockout in the near future?

18:40: David Stern was the NBA Commissioner at the time of the lockout, but Adam Silver was very involved as well. What was Silver like during the negotiations and does Mo feel the league is in good hands with Silver?

19:50: Mo’s last NBA season was the 2011-12 campaign with the Washington Wizards. Had he not been so involved in the contentious labor talks with owners, would his NBA career lasted longer?

21:10: These days, Mo runs a company called E.L.O.S. – Every Level of Success – that provides a multitude of services for professional athletes. He explains what E.L.O.S. is and how it helps players.

from HoopsHype http://ift.tt/2xjerrv