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There's another NBA lockout. But this one will last only three days. On Monday afternoon, NBA players with four or more years of experience were barred from practice facilities. They won't be allowed to return until Thursday afternoon. It's all part of a new NBA rule calling for veterans to report three days later than young players. But it's irking some that veterans can't even practice voluntarily. "I think it's ridiculous," Denver Nuggets assistant general manager David Fredman said. "I compare it to baseball in the spring when pitchers and catchers report. It would be like saying that Barry Bonds couldn't come in if he wanted to take batting practice." So the Nuggets will begin training camp today without Marcus Camby, Ryan Bowen, Andre Miller, Earl Boykins, Voshon Lenard and Jon Barry. While they'll return to the Pepsi Center on Thursday for physicals and media day, they can't practice until Friday. The idea of veterans reporting late was proposed during All-Star Weekend in February as a concession to the NBA Players Association for allowing the league to have a best-of-seven, rather than best- of-five, format for the first round of the playoffs. The players association approved it in a near-unanimous vote at a meeting in June in Las Vegas. "It's a little frustrating not being able to come in for practice," said Bowen, the Nuggets player representative. "I'd be there if I could. But I can understand why they make the rule where nobody is allowed in. You want to make it the same across the board. You don't want to have pressure put on a player who might not want to come in." |