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Basketball Hall of Fame Chairman Jerry Colangelo defended the Hall's decision to elect Granik. "The committee that looked at all the people who were submitted as candidates came to the conclusion that Russ Granik was the person they wanted to put forward this year," Colangelo told USA TODAY Sports. "Everyone has their moment. Some people might get it on the first shot, second shot. In terms of a direct-elect, people are now going into the Hall who never went into the Hall. This is a great example of how this system is really working. USA Today Sports

Jerry Colangelo, Hall of Fame, Russ Granik 

Ross Siler: Biggest surprise of the lockout so far is that former deputy commissioner Russ Granik is going to be ESPN's NBA labor expert. Twitter

CBA, David Stern, Lockout, Billy Hunter, NBPA, Russ Granik 

So you said you were encouraged by the NFL’s prognosis, but how do you see the NBA labor situation and where it‘s heading? Granik: “I think the NBA has a more difficult problem (than the NFL), because it’s harder to see where there’s an easy compromise. On a relative basis, they’re looking for greater moves by the players and I think it’s going to be more difficult. They’ve got a lot of smart people on both sides, so hopefully they’ll come to a good conclusion.” NBA Confidential

CBA, Lockout, Russ Granik 

Did you see it as progress that the players said they were willing to discuss any and all issues at All-Star weekend, including a hard cap? Granik: “I haven’t seen that the players said that. I always felt that in bargaining you tend not to make progress in increments, even though that’s what people are always writing is, ‘Well, they didn’t make any progress.’ Well, you don’t really know that. “Nobody really gives up anything important until it’s all done. It’s always got to all be part of a package, because nobody wants to give something unless they know where they’re going. So if you’re not in the room, and even if you are sometimes, it’s hard to know where you are. But it doesn’t take a lot of time to make a deal. And so when the parties are ready, they’ll get the deal done.” NBA Confidential

CBA, Lockout, Russ Granik