“Players want to play. You’ve gotta understand, this is not something I imagine they did light-heartedly or without thought or intention. You think players don’t want to play a playoff game? To have them take these steps, they’re hurting and that’s real. These guys probably have lived their whole lives dreaming … some of them … of playing in the playoffs for the first time, trying to win a championship. And to put that on hold, that’s a real statement. That tells you how much it means to them and you have to respect that.”