During the NBA lockout, the players are striving to be better at public relations than they were in 1998.

“It was a huge emphasis,” Derek Fisher, the president of the National Basketball Players Association, said in a telephone interview. “The reality is, we’re in a great position, where guys have worked to put themselves in this place where they can potentially earn millions of dollars.”

Kenny Anderson presented his finances to the New York Times during the 1998 lockout that became a lighting rod for criticism when he spoke of getting rid of one of his Mercedes.

Patrick Ewing, NBPA President at the time, famously said that professional athletes "make a lot of money, but they also spend a lot of money."

“We haven’t had a Kenny Anderson moment,” one player advocate said.