Garrett Temple feels upcoming time in Orlando will present an important opportunity for players

Brooklyn Nets wing Garrett Temple sees how NBA players have a chance to “create a little bit of generational wealth.”

When the NBA’s proposal to resume the 2019-20 season on July 31 at Disney World in Orlando was approved by the league’s Board of Governors and the National Basketball Players Association, it seemed safe to think everyone was on board and the most important details had been ironed out. Of course, there could be some smaller details that need to be finalized, but nothing that would alter the course the NBA was on.

But it turns out this may have not been the case, given there’s a growing concern that some players from the 22 teams that are being invited to Orlando won’t play, according to ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Separate from Woj’s report came Carmelo Anthony’s statement to TNT’s Ernie Johnson on a #NBATogether broadcast. The Portland Trail Blazers forward doesn’t know if he’s going to head down to Orlando when things get rolling:

As far as actually playing and going back down into Orlando, I’m still up in the air a little bit because I really don’t, we don’t have all the details. We don’t know a lot of information, so until we have that, it’s hard to just commit to that 100 percent.

This apprehension on the part of some players prompted Garrett Temple to illustrate to Malika Andrews of ESPN why it’s so important for every player to play when the season gets rolling.

When people bring up not playing — we are a few black men that can make a little bit of money. It is not a lot of money when [you] think about it in the grand scheme of America. But we can start having a little bit of money, create a little bit of generational wealth.

But the fact that us not playing will hurt our pockets, I don’t think that is the right way to go about it.

The Brooklyn Nets wing also added:

One reason for us to go to Orlando is while we’re there, we can talk amongst each other and maybe come up with a plan, maybe come up with some type of action. We need to come together and come up with something. The attention is going to be on us when we’re in that bubble. I know we can think of something that does not hurt the pockets of our young black men.

At the end of the day, money isn’t everything, but it helps. And we need it in our community now more than ever. The economic gap is too wide.