In the columns of L’Equipe, ASVEL president Tony Parker lashes out at the captains of the Jeep Elite clubs, who have written to the League to ask for the end of the season Final Eight to be deleted.
At the time of the second confinement, at the end of October 2020, the Jeep Elite clubs, who were hoping for a quick return from the supporters in the theaters, decided to put the season on hiatus and play only a few matches per month. A huge delay was therefore taken, and the League, seeing that the public would not return immediately (800 people are allowed in theaters only since Wednesday) decided at the end of February to extend the regular season until June 15 and to replace the play-offs with a Final Eight played over three days from June 25 to 27, without the internationals selected to prepare for the Olympic Games.
But this Friday, the 18 Jeep Elite captains sent a letter to the LNB asking them to cancel the Final Eight and award the championship at the end of the 34 days of the regular season. “The current calendar imposes an intense rhythm on us which makes it very difficult to preserve our physical and mental integrity“. And this letter was not at all understood by the president of ASVEL (his captain Charles Kahudi however signed it), Tony Parker, who did not mince his words in the columns of The team.
Parker: “If you want to get your salary, you play”
“For me, finishing in the regular season is not simply the formula or how basketball works. We are the play-offs. This is what brings basketball to life, it is the true identity of basketball. All year, we did nothing, we have to say things. We didn’t play. Between the TV rights that we are trying to obtain, the fact that from June 15 you will be able to have 5,000 people in theaters, it would be great to organize an event to end the season in style. (…) Last year, not one of my players wanted to make a (financial) effort. They all said, “I want 100% of my salary! “. Well, if you want to get your salary, you play. (…) When you see that NBA players have played 72 games (in five months, editor’s note). We rested, we played from November to February one or two games a month and then we don’t even want to play. Frankly, this is a joke! On the other hand, when we go to see them to lower the salary, there is no one left ”, railed on the quadruple NBA champion.
The LNB must decide by the end of the month whether or not to maintain Final Eight. To date, Monaco is Jeep Elite leader with 19 wins in 23 games, ahead of Dijon (22 wins in 27 games) and ASVEL (19 wins in 25 games). Only Boulazac, who has won only 4 out of 26 matches, is guaranteed not to play in the Final Eight.
