Fisher on NHL lockout: ‘Stay together'

BOSTONThe NHL lockout has seen more ups and downs lately than the Dow Jones, something that Dallas guard Derek Fisher can totally relate to.
As president of the NBA's Players Union, Fisher was front-and-center a year ago this time as the NBA and the union hammered out a deal that ultimately led to a 66-game season.
So what advice does he give his hockey brethren walking a similar path now?
"The one thing I would offer is, the quickest way to resolution and getting something done is to stay together," Fisher said. "You don't get anything done by becoming individuals and starting to separate. It doesn't mean it has to take longer. But the most efficient way ... is to really stay together, try to make sure you have one voice and one general focus in terms of how you're trying to get things accomplished as a group."
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As much as getting a consensus on the economics of a potential deal is challenging, making sure the players stick together can be even more daunting.
"It's tough. In sports now -- not just the customers and the audience growing in terms of a global perspective, but your players have grown in terms of global perspective," Fisher said. "You're trying to have one voice from around the world; particularly in hockey, like Russia and the European countries, that makes it even more challenging than for us in a lot of ways, in basketball.
Fisher added, "it is tough, it is challenging. But at the end of the day, for the most part the people in the power positions from a players perspective, are trying to do the right things, trying to do right by what they were elected to do, and that's to get the best deal they can get. If guys can trust that, most of the time things are OK."