National Basketball Players Association Rumors

NBA, NBPA Agree To Resume PED Testing In Orlando

June 8th, 2020 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA and NBPA have reached an agreement to resume testing for performance-enhancing drugs when the season resumes in Orlando this summer, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Shortly after the league suspended the 2019/20 season in March, the two sides reached an agreement to halt drug testing for players. That agreement covered all forms of testing and was meant to address concerns regarding the proximity of drug testers and the sensitivity of drawing blood during the coronavirus pandemic.

Although the league and the players’ union have agreed to resume PED testing in Orlando, testing for recreational drugs will remain on hold, according to Charania. In other words, players won’t face potential marijuana-related fines or suspensions this summer.

Positive PED tests result in significantly harsher penalties than positive marijuana tests. Deandre Ayton (Suns) and John Collins (Hawks) each received 25-game bans earlier this season for violating the NBA’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

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National Basketball Players Association

NBPA Views December 1 Start Date For 2020/21 As “Unlikely”

June 5th, 2020 at 4:55pm CST by Luke Adams

The National Basketball Players Association announced today that it has approved further negotiations with the NBA on its resumption plan and various changes to the league’s calendar. However, the NBPA also told its players that it considers a December 1 start date for the 2020/21 regular season “unlikely,” reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.

As we noted in our earlier story, the players’ union and the league still need to work out a number of details, with many aspects of the Collective Bargaining Agreement expected to be revisited and renegotiated.

NBPA executive director Michele Roberts has informed members that next season’s start date and “a myriad of items” will be part of the union’s negotiations with the NBA in the coming weeks, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

A November 10 training camp date and December 1 regular season tip-off date were among the most surprising details put forth by the NBA on Thursday. There’s a belief that the league hopes to start the 2020/21 season that early in part because it would allow next year’s Finals to wrap up before the Tokyo Olympics begin on July 23, 2021.

However, since this year’s NBA Finals could run as late as October 12, some players could have less than a month off if such an aggressive timeline is approved. As such, those proposed 2020/21 dates were considered tentative and subject to change even before Charania’s report this afternoon.

Details related to the league’s health and safety protocols for this summer’s restart will also need to be negotiated and finalized. A number of financial issues – including how much players are ultimately paid for 2019/20 and what the salary cap for ’20/21 will look like – will need to be addressed and resolved as well.

NBPA Approves NBA’s 22-Team Return-To-Play Format

June 5th, 2020 at 4:12pm CST by Luke Adams

After a virtual meeting today, the National Basketball Players Association has approved the NBA’s 22-team return-to-play format, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). Charania reports (via Twitter) that all 28 team player representatives on the call approved the plan.

As Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter), the two sides still need to work out a number of details related to the resumption of the season, with many aspects of the Collective Bargaining Agreement expected to be revisited and renegotiated. For instance, just because the NBPA approved the tentative plan today, that doesn’t mean the two sides are locking in the NBA’s target date of December 1 as the start of the 2020/21 season.

“The Board of Player Representatives of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) has approved further negotiations with the NBA on a 22-team return to play scenario to restart the 2019/20 NBA season,” the NBPA said in a statement. “Various details remain to be negotiated and the acceptance of the scenario would still require that all parties reach agreement on all issues relevant to resuming play.”

Still, now that the Board of Governors and the players’ union have both signed off on the league’s restart plan, two crucial hurdles have been cleared. The two sides intend to work together toward resuming play on July 31 at Walt Disney World.

One important aspect of the return-to-play plan that will require further discussion is the long list of healthy and safety protocols the NBA plans to implement to help individuals in Orlando avoid contracting and spreading COVID-19.

Sources tell Charania (Twitter link) that the NBPA informed players today that coronavirus testing will happen every night after everyone reports to Orlando. According to Charania, a quarantine period of at least seven days will be required if a player tests positive for COVID-19.

Additionally, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), players have been told that the goal is to have a maximum of 1,600 people within the NBA’s Disney bubble at a given time. Players’ families are expected to be allowed after the first round of the playoffs, with up to three family members at a time permitted, Woj adds. Those family members will need to quarantine for seven days upon arriving, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.

Here are a few more details that were discussed on today’s call, per Charania:

The plan is to have teams play two or three exhibition games before the eight “seeding games” begin.
The NBA and NBPA are still discussing how to handle the no-fans environment. Using crowd noise via NBA 2K audio is one option.
Players won’t be blood-tested (ie. for anti-drug policy violations) in Orlando.
Players are expected to once again receive their full pay checks this summer after accepting a 25% reduction as of May 15.

Interestingly, Charania also reports (via Twitter) that NBPA leadership stressed to players that staying within the campus environment during play is mandatory in order to ensure player safety. We’ve heard that the league would permit players to leave that “bubble,” but it sounds like the NBPA is strongly discouraging that idea in order to keep the playing environment as uncompromised as possible.

Restart Notes: Scheduling, NBPA, Testing, TV Deals

June 4th, 2020 at 9:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Although the National Basketball Players Association is expected to approve the NBA’s return-to-play plan, a long list of financial, competitive, and scheduling details need to be negotiated for the 2020/21 season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). As Wojnarowski details, most of the new dates shared and/or confirmed today – such as August 25 for the draft lottery and October 15 for the draft – are still considered tentative for the time being.

Meanwhile, Wojnarowski passed along several more “preliminary expectations” on how the schedule will work this summer in Orlando. According to Woj (via Twitter), there will be a 16-day regular season, with five or six games played each day. Each team is expected to play one back-to-back set within its eight regular season games, while the NBA Finals will feature games every other day.

Here’s more on the NBA’s restart:

NBPA executive director Michele Roberts admitted she was caught off guard by the NBA’s aggressive turnaround plan between this season and next, writes Wojnarowski. The league is tentative targeting November 10 for opening training camps for next season, with December 1 tentatively penciled in to be opening night. The NBA Finals may not end until October 12, meaning a couple teams could get less than a month off. “I was surprised to see it,” Roberts told ESPN. As Woj notes, the NBPA will have to sign off on changes to the league’s calendar, so those dates aren’t set in stone yet.
Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN have published a helpful primer on the NBA’s return, sharing details on where games will actually be played at Disney (The Arena, HP Field House, and Visa Athletic Center) and how often the league plans to test individuals inside the bubble for COVID-19 (daily, per ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne).
In a wide-ranging look at the NBA’s restart, Sam Amick of The Athletic cites sources who say that the eight games teams will play before the postseason this summer will all count toward those clubs’ regional sports network TV deals. That’s significant from a financial perspective — Amick notes that the Lakers make approximately $1.5MM per game from their deal with Spectrum SportsNet, while even the lower-end deals net about $200K per game.

NBPA Schedules Friday Call To Approve Return-To-Play Plan

June 4th, 2020 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

1:49pm: Now that the Board of Governors has voted in favor of the league’s return-to-play plan, the players’ union is next up. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that the NBPA’s team player representatives have a call set for Friday to approve the league’s plan for resuming the season.

11:03am: While the NBA’s Board of Governors is reportedly on the verge of approving Adam Silver‘s recommended plan for resuming the 2019/20 season, that’s just one important hurdle for the league to clear as it solidifies that plan.

The National Basketball Players Association will also need to formally approve any return-to-play plan, and Marc Stein of The New York Times tweets that the union has scheduled a Friday virtual meeting for its members to discuss the proposal.

Silver and the NBA have been working closely with NBPA president Chris Paul and the players’ union throughout the planning process, and the commissioner is believed to have already taken into account many of the players’ concerns. As such, I wouldn’t expect things to get contentious between the NBA and NBPA — it sounds like there’s a good chance the union will approve Silver’s proposal without significant pushback.

Still, players will want to receive assurances that the NBA is doing as much as it can to keep players healthy and safe amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A source tell Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) that the league and the union are still working on a “lengthy” medical protocols document. It will be shared with teams once those discussions are completed, Reynolds adds.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) details, there will also be a number of other issues that the NBA and NBPA will need to collective bargain in order to formally move forward.

Besides navigating major financial issues like player salary reductions and the salary cap going forward, the two sides will have to move player option decision deadlines, salary guarantee dates, expiration dates for trade exceptions, and several other deadlines tied to free agency and the offseason, Marks writes. Additionally, decisions will have to be made on the possible expansion of rosters, lifting the current transaction moratorium, and the draft.

Board Of Governors Meeting Unlikely To Yield Final Plan

May 27th, 2020 at 11:13am CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA’s Board of Governors remote meeting with commissioner Adam Silver on Friday is not expected to result in finalized plans for the resumption of this season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

This speaks to the difficulties of getting everyone around the league to agree on a format and guidelines to restart the season. A wide range of options have been considered, varying from having all teams return to action to just the 16 clubs currently holding playoff spots.

Talks on incorporating the three most serious plans remain ongoing with the teams and the National Basketball Players Association, Wojnarowski adds, without specifying that trio of options.

Players Association executive director Michele Roberts has been conducting team-by-team conference calls with players this week, spelling out the various formats, as well as the financial implication of those options.

Orlando has emerged as the likely place where games will be conducted.

Latest On Potential Resumption Of NBA Season

May 26th, 2020 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has a number of important conference calls scheduled for this week as it continues to discuss the possible resumption of the 2019/20 season.

According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, the league’s advisory/finance committee will have a call on Wednesday to talk about potential plans. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says a call with the league’s general managers will take place on Thursday. A Board of Governors call is scheduled for Friday, as previously reported.

According to Wojnarowski, the NBA may present a recommendation to its team owners on Friday, but that’s not guaranteed, since the league believes it still has some time to further deliberate. Sources tell ESPN that the possibility of games resuming in August – rather than July – remains a possibility for the NBA.

As the NBA continues to preach patience, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts has started to push for a resolution to the league’s deliberations. Roberts, who plans to speak with players from all 30 teams over the next week to determine how they feel about the NBA’s reopening plans, tells ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that players overwhelmingly want to play, but need details on what it will look like.

“It’s time. It’s time,” Roberts said. “It’s been two and a half months of, ‘What if?’ My players need some level of certainty. I think everybody does.”

Roberts added that she doesn’t think the players’ union would necessarily need to conduct a formal vote on an NBA proposal when it arrives, since the NBPA has stayed in constant communication with the league, which has a pretty good sense of how its players are feeling.

“If we thought we needed a vote, we would. If we’re ratifying a CBA, we need a vote,” Roberts told Shelburne. “But our preferred method is talking to people or just having them talk to us. Then if we get a sense of what the sentiment is then we can move forward. We talk to our players and figure it out.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s plans:

There’s no strong consensus among NBA teams and executives about what the league’s return to play should look like, according to Wojnarowski. For instance, the idea of all 30 teams participating has “lost momentum,” but “still has a significant lobby.” Teams like the Hawks, Cavaliers, and Pistons are interested in resuming play, per Woj, who notes that some young, rebuilding squads are wary of taking the summer off and having a nine-month layoff before the start of next season.
On the other hand, there’s some ambivalence among lottery-bound teams about returning, particularly if they have no path to the postseason, Woj writes. Damian Lillard has publicly expressed this sentiment, as we relayed this morning. Commissioner Adam Silver is also prioritizing player safety and is wary of the possibility of subpar basketball if all 30 teams are brought back — the combination of the long layoff and stars on lottery teams sitting out could create a “bad television spectacle,” notes Woj.
Some agents are also hinting to GMs that their free-agent-to-be clients may not want to jeopardize their stock by playing poorly in a brief return this summer if there’s no path to the playoffs for their teams, according to ESPN’s report.
One starting player on a lottery team offered the following assessment, according to Woj: “If we don’t show up, we lose more money. We are already in the hole. And what message does it send to the public, the teams, the players that we are OK with 10-to-14 teams not playing. We already have a competition problem in the league. … My thing is: Play 30 teams for as many games as possible for the money, or go straight to the playoffs.”
According to O’Connor, Silver is interested in trying something different with this year’s playoffs because he wants to boost interest and appeal to casual fans at a time when all eyes will be on the NBA’s return. O’Connor lays out, in detail, the possibility of turning the first round of the postseason into a World Cup-esque “group stage,” which is something the NBA has discussed — we’ll have much more on that concept in a story coming later this afternoon.

Roberts Informs Players Of Latest Plans To Resume Season

May 25th, 2020 at 8:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts is conducting team-by-team conference calls with players as momentum continues toward a resumption of play, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Roberts is providing details on formats to restart the season in Orlando, which has emerged as the likely place where games will be conducted. She is also going over the financial implications of those options and gathering feedback, Wojnarowski adds.

While there’s no word on how the players are reacting to the proposals, it does provide hope that players will soon convene to start training and practicing again. Several teams have opened their training facilities on a limited basis but thus far scrimmages and formal practices have not been permitted.

The NBA’s Board of Governors will conduct a conference call on Friday, which will include commissioner Adam Silver and team owners. It’s expected that by the end of the week, a course of action will be determined. Recent developments suggest that when play resumes, teams currently in the lottery will be excluded.

Search For New NBPA Executive Director On Hold

May 16th, 2020 at 3:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

The National Basketball Players Association will delay its search for a new executive director until it has a better understanding of what’s going to happen with this season, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Michele Roberts, who has led the union since 2014, won’t seek a contract extension when her current four-year term expires in 2022. The NBPA announced in March that it would begin its search for a successor, allowing plenty of time for a smooth transition.

The union has interviewed several candidates in recent weeks, including Pistons assistant general manager Pat Garrity, according to Haynes’ sources. Garrity served as treasurer for the union’s executive committee during his playing career. An executive search firm has been accepting nominations and is exploring a diverse set of applicants who have been in charge of other organizations.

There is no set timeline to find a replacement for Roberts, sources tell Haynes. She still has “unwavering support” from the players and will be counted on to guide the union through the coronavirus crisis, including negotiations that could affect how much the players earn in the next collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA will expire in 2024.

NBPA President Chris Paul: “We Want To Play Bad”

May 15th, 2020 at 3:27pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of a report earlier in the week suggesting that there’s “overwhelming” support among NBA players to try to resume the 2019/20 season, NBPA president Chris Paul appeared today on ESPN’s The Jump (video link) and essentially confirmed as much to Rachel Nichols.

Acknowledging that there are complicated issues to work through, and stressing that the health and safety of players should be the NBA’s top priority, Paul stated in no uncertain terms that players are itching to get back on the court.

“A lot of hard conversations that have to be made, a lot of hard decisions,” the Thunder guard said. “But with the team around us, I think ultimately we’ll get to where we want to. Obviously we want to play. Oh man, we want to play. We want to play bad. And I think that’s a consensus for the guys around the league. We want it to be, obviously, as safe as possible. But the biggest thing is we miss the game.”

Noting that the common refrain among players is that they want to play “when it’s safe,” Nichols asked Paul what exactly that might look like, since no coronavirus vaccine is expected until 2021 at the earliest. The 35-year-old admitted he’s still not sure exactly what the best way to minimize the risk this summer is.

“I don’t have the answers,” Paul said. “I don’t have all the answers. But I know that people are working tirelessly trying to figure it out.”

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski wrote earlier this week that if the NBA resumes its season, the league won’t want to let one positive coronavirus test shut down play again. That means players will have to be comfortable with some number of positive tests, though it’s not clear how many would qualify as too many — that figures to be one key issue the NBA and NBPA will have to figure out in their negotiations.