National Basketball Players Association Rumors

Hiatus Notes: NBPA, Playoffs, Warriors, Fans

May 12th, 2020 at 3:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The National Basketball Players Association has begun to poll its members on whether or not they want to resume the 2019/20 season, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. As Woj explains, the NBPA’s regional representatives are among the union officials asking players a “yes or no” question about their desire to return to play amid the coronavirus pandemic. The union has assured players that their individual responses will be kept confidential.

While it may seem like a given that players on contending teams will want to resume the season, there’s certainly no guarantee that players on all 30 clubs feel the same way. Even among players who have a chance to win a title in ’19/20, there could be differences of opinion based on potential safety and health concerns.

With Major League Baseball working on its own plan for a potential return to play, pitcher Sean Doolittle published a Twitter thread on Monday outlining concerns that he and other players would have as they consider suiting up for the season. Doolittle’s thread goes more in-depth and lays out more specific concerns than those we’ve heard publicly from basketball players, but I’d imagine there are many around the NBA who share some of his reservations.

For what it’s worth, the NBPA said in a statement to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the union “is not engaging in and has not authorized any formal poll of its players.” As such, it sounds like the outreach being described by Wojnarowski is informal.

Here’s more on the coronavirus situation and its impact on the NBA:

A source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post that one scenario the NBA has discussed as it explores the resumption of the 2019/20 season would see the eighth seed in each conference up for grabs, with the current eighth through 12th seeds participating in a play-in tournament. As Berman explains, it would provide an incentive for a handful of teams who are currently out of the postseason picture, while not requiring the clubs at the very bottom of the standings to return and participate. Of course, it’s just one of many ideas the league has explored.
The Warriors still don’t expect they’ll be one of the teams playing games if and when the NBA resumes its season, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t want to be involved, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. According to Slater, one Warriors coach suggested that playing a handful of regular season games in the summer could essentially function as a “replacement summer league” for Golden State.
The NBA and NBPA are forming a “working group” and will have a call on Tuesday to discuss potential return-to-play scenarios, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. Charania tweets that Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Jayson Tatum, Kyle Lowry, and Dwight Powell will be among the players on the call.
In an interesting piece for The Athletic, Bill Shea explores how the pandemic will impact the way fans attend sporting events, once they’re allowed to reenter arenas and stadiums.

NBPA’s Roberts Expresses Concerns About ‘Bubble’ Concept

May 8th, 2020 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The possibility of resuming and completing the 2019/20 NBA season in a “bubble” location is widely viewed as the most viable path to playing games this summer. In theory, bringing the necessary players, staffers, and officials to a single location where they can be quarantined and tested for COVID-19 would be far less risky than having teams traveling to and from their home cities for games.

However, while the idea of making Walt Disney World or Las Vegas that bubble in which to resume the NBA season has gained momentum in some corners, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts tells ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that the players’ union has some reservations.

As Roberts explains, via Shelburne, players would have to submit to some level of surveillance in order to enforce a quarantine for several weeks – or months – and to ensure the “bubble” is impenetrable. That idea is somewhat unsettling for Roberts and a number of players.

“Are we going to arm guards around the hotel?” Roberts said. “That sounds like incarceration to me.”

Of course, while the NBPA may have concerns about bubble enforcement being too “draconian,” as Shelburne writes, creating restrictions that are too lax could also be a problem. In that scenario, the league would risk having a player or staffer leave the bubble, contract the coronavirus, and put those inside the bubble at risk, potentially necessitating a shutdown.

The NBA continues to explore all potential options, so there’s no guarantee that the league will move forward with the bubble-location concept. If it does, there are concessions that could be made, such as allowing family members to join players in the bubble location. Still, Roberts tells Shelburne that regardless of what the NBA decides, the league and its players will have to prepare for some level of coronavirus-related risk.

“This is a world with the virus,” Roberts said. “And we have to figure out a way to work, play and live in a world with the virus. The questions have now evolved from, ‘Are we going to play again?’ to, ‘If we play, what are the risks going to look like?'”

As Roberts point out, even after the NBA makes a decision on what it feels is the safest possible path for resuming play, there may still be players who aren’t comfortable with those risks. She’s not sure yet how to address that issue.

“That is the million-dollar question,” Roberts told Shelburne. “I’ve got to confront that. It’s an issue employers everywhere are going to have to confront. Because I guarantee there’s going to be at least one player, if not many more than that, that are going to have genuine concerns about their safety. We have to figure out what the response is to that. It’s a tough one, and I don’t pretend that I have an answer to that one yet.

NBA Remains Optimistic About 2019/20 Season Even With Further Delay

April 30th, 2020 at 9:44pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The overwhelming majority of high-level executives remain encouraged and optimistic that the NBA will resume this season, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

Commissioner Adam Silver has maintained a strong relationship with the National Basketball Players Association as all parties aim to return to basketball. Still, there are many hurdles to overcome in order to resume the season.

Silver previously said that no decision will be made before May 1. That doesn’t mean the commissioner will be making any announcements on Friday, though there’s a bit of restlessness within the league to come to a decision sooner than later, Woj notes.

The MGM Grand in Las Vegas is one of several suitors pitching a plan to host the league. Vegas could potentially also host the WNBA by providing three adjacent hotels for teams to stay at. Disney World in Orlando, Florida remains an option that is gaining momentum. Another proposal would see games played in “pods” across different regions.

Having fans in the stands is probably out of the question. Having cameramen may not be needed either, as sources tell Wojnarowski that the teams could rely on robotic cameras with new, innovative angles of the contests.

TV analysts could potentially call games from remote locations. The current discussions have included keeping teams at a 30-to-35 person head count, including players.

There is some support for the 2020/21 season to begin in December and run through July or August, as a way of resuming the 2019/20 season without dramatically hindering the league’s ability to complete the full ’20/21 calendar. There’s also the understanding that the further the NBA pushes this season back, the higher the chances of having fans in the stands at some point.

The NBA is still sorting out scenarios, but Silver may have to push forward with a decision without the backing of everyone. One GM told Woj that “it’s hard to lead by consensus in a crisis.” Silver may have to simply act in what he feels are the best interests of all parties, even if there are some that have different preferences.

Testing for the coronavirus is another issue. Silver has insisted that he couldn’t allow for the NBA to utilize all the available tests and – according to Woj – has instituted a mandate stating that if a player wasn’t showing symptoms, he shouldn’t be tested. Woj reports that the league would have to reverse course on that and that it would take approximately 15,000 tests to complete the season. While the NBA can afford to pay a private company to make those tests, it would be problematic for the league if they’re not widely available to the American public.

It’s nearing two months since the league suspended its season and the urgency to come to a solution continues to rise.

And-Ones: G League Union, Brown, Lin, Terry

April 24th, 2020 at 6:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

G League players will begin deciding on Saturday whether to form a union, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. The National Basketball Players Association is assisting in the formation of a G League-governed union, Wojnarowski continues.

By creating a union, the players could bargain with the NBA and G League on issues such as housing, salary and travel, Wojnarowski writes. A majority of G League players must sign an electronic authorization card for passage.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Five-star recruit Greg Brown turned down a $400K offer to join the G League’s professional pathway program and opted to sign with Texas, Jeff Goodman of GoodmanHoops tweets. Brown, a 6’9” power forward, could have joined fellow top recruits Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd in the program but decided to spend next season with the Longhorns. “Just not rushing the process … the NBA is always going to be there,” Brown told Goodman.
Some foreign players are essentially stuck in China until the Chinese Basketball Association decides whether to resume its season, former NBA guard Jeremy Lin told USA Today’s Mark Medina. Lin has been practicing regularly with the Beijing Ducks. The CBA was expected to restart in April but those plans were shelved due to continuing concerns about players contracting the novel coronavirus. “We’re basically just waiting until June to decide whether we play in July or not,” Lin said. “That’s the current situation. We’re kind of in limbo right now.”
Longtime NBA player Jason Terry has accepted an assistant coaching position with the University of Arizona, Jason Scheer of 247Sports reports. The news regarding Terry, who played for the Wildcats from 1995-99, won’t be official for several weeks since the school currently has a hiring freeze.

NBA, NBPA Agree On Deal To Withhold Portion Of Players’ Pay

April 17th, 2020 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

4:04pm: The NBA has issued a press release officially confirming the agreement detailed below.

2:29pm: The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have reached an agreement on a deal that will see 25% of players’ pay checks withheld beginning on May 15, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Wojnarowski, the players’ May 1 checks will be paid in full, as the ones on April 15 were.

The league had previously proposed that players’ pay checks be reduced by 50% beginning on April 15, with the NBPA counter-proposing the deal that has now been agreed upon. Today’s agreement will ensure a more gradual reduction of players’ salaries as they prepare for the likely possibility that some games will be canceled and they’ll have to give up some money as a result.

As cap guru Albert Nahmad and others have explained, if the NBA has to officially cancel regular-season and/or playoff games, the “force majeure” clause in the CBA would allow the league to recoup a portion of players’ salaries — approximately 1% per canceled game. While the NBA still hopes to resume and finish its season, there’s an expectation that the schedule will be reduced to some extent in that scenario.

If they had continued to receive their full pay checks beyond May 15, the players would have put themselves in a position of eventually having to return some of that money to the NBA – if and when the force majeure provision was enacted – to help balance the revenue split between players and owners.

Taking a quarter of players’ pay checks starting on May 15 should help the league and the players’ union remain flexible no matter what happens with the remainder of the season, avoiding any substantial lump-sum payments from one side to the other in the coming months. The players could end up getting money back if the NBA is able to play most or all of its remaining games, whereas if the season is fully canceled, the league would keep that withheld pay and the players would likely owe additional money.

Most NBA players receive their annual pay checks in 24 regular installments through November 1. However, there are some players who receive their salary in just 12 installments through May 1. Those players will have been paid in full by the time today’s plan goes into effect on May 15, so presumably they’ll be required to give back some money. We’ll have to wait for more extensive details on today’s deal to find out exactly how that will work.

Coronavirus Notes: Fauci, Morey, CP3, Courtside Seats

April 15th, 2020 at 11:36am CST by Luke Adams

Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious diseases expert, told Snapchat’s Peter Hamby this week that the only way to realistically restart sports leagues in 2020 will be by initially playing games without fans (video link; story via ESPN.com).

“There’s a way of doing that,” Fauci said, in reference to restarting sports. “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put (the players) in big hotels, wherever you want to play, keep them very well surveilled. … Have them tested every single week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family, and just let them play the season out.”

In essence, Fauci is suggesting the “bubble” model that the NBA and other sports leagues have been exploring. It would involve teams and players congregating in a single city and playing games in a handful of locations with only essential personnel in attendance. They’d also have to stay at designated hotels.

Although Fauci’s comments were in reference to the MLB and NFL specifically, there’s no reason why they wouldn’t apply to the NBA as well — especially since the NBA wouldn’t need to house as many teams in its “bubble” once its postseason begins. While several roadblocks would still need to be overcome to make such a scenario a reality, it’s encouraging that Fauci considers it viable.

Here’s more on the ongoing coronavirus situation as it relates to the NBA:

Although NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said that the NBA won’t be making any decisions on its season in April, that doesn’t mean that we should expect any concrete updates on May 1, writes Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Amidst reports that players and trainers are hoping for a preparation period of approximately four weeks before play resumes, Rockets GM Daryl Morey suggested on Monday that players likely won’t get that much time to get back into game shape, per Ben DuBose of RocketsWire. As Morey notes, if every team has to deal with the same abridged preparation period, no clubs should have a competitive advantage as a result.
Thunder guard and NBPA president Chris Paul spoke to Mark Medina of USA Today about the ongoing talks between the league and the players’ union, referring to the situation as “a wait-and-see game.” Paul, who said the NBPA is attempting to keep players as informed as possible, also noted that some sort of ramping-up period will be necessary before games can resume. “I guarantee guys won’t step on that court without feeling like they’ve had the right amount of time to get prepared,” he said
Even when fans are eventually allowed to attend basketball games again, there’s no guarantee that the NBA won’t re-evaluate the existence of its courtside seats, says Adam Aziz of The Undefeated.

NBA Players To Receive Full April 15 Pay Checks

April 9th, 2020 at 11:55am CST by Luke Adams

NBA teams will send full pay checks to players on the league’s next payment date, April 15, according to reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).

The league had previously proposed to the National Basketball Players Association that players accept a 50% pay check reduction beginning on April 15 due to the suspension of the season, with the NBPA counter-proposing that players take a 25% reduction beginning in mid-May. Today’s news doesn’t mean the union’s proposal won out, but – as Wojnarowski tweets – it does suggest that May 1 will be the next payment date to watch as negotiations between the two sides continue.

The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement calls for approximately a 50/50 revenue split between the teams and players. For now, team owners are bearing the brunt of the NBA’s lost revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic, but that dynamic will have to shift at some point.

As cap guru Albert Nahmad and others have explained, in the event that regular-season and/or playoff games are canceled, the “force majeure” clause in the CBA would allow the NBA to recoup a portion of players’ salaries — approximately 1% per canceled game. However, as long as the remainder of the 2019/20 season is considered to be “postponed” rather than canceled, the league has little leverage to withhold players’ pay for the time being.

If they continue to receive their pay checks in full, players will likely put themselves in a position where they have to return some of that money to the NBA down the road – if and when games are canceled – to balance the revenue split. That’s especially true for players who only receive their annual salaries in 12 installments through May 1 instead of 24 installments through November 1, since those players have nearly been paid in full already for 2019/20.

Not all players will necessarily have to return money to the NBA in the coming weeks or months, even if games are canceled. Jabari Young of CNBC, who wrote earlier in the week about this issue, suggested that for players whose deals run beyond the current season, team owners may instead recoup a portion of their salaries over the length of those contracts.

NBA Proposes 50% Pay Check Reduction For Players

April 3rd, 2020 at 4:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has proposed to the National Basketball Players Association that players accept a 50% pay check reduction beginning on April 15, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, the NBPA has issued a counter-proposal that would see players’ pay checks reduced by 25%, beginning in mid-May.

It would be in both sides’ best interest to resolve these negotiations – which were reported earlier in the week by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski – fairly soon, since the players’ next checks are due in 12 days.

Thus far, team owners have assumed the brunt of the financial losses from the NBA’s stoppage of play, but the impact of that lost revenue will soon hit the players, since the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement calls for approximately a 50/50 revenue split between the two groups.

The NBA already holds 10% of players’ salaries in an escrow account and would normally either pay out or withhold some or all of that money at season’s end, depending on whether the players were overpaid or underpaid over the course of the year, relative to the revenue split.

Given how much money the league projects to lose this season, the amount in that escrow – approximately $380MM, per Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report – likely won’t be enough to cover the players’ half of the losses, which is why the NBA is looking to recoup an additional portion of its players’ salaries.

The exact amount that the NBA gets back from players will depend on whether or not any part of the season can be salvaged this summer and how much revenue the league ultimately loses. As Pincus notes in a tweet, the NBA’s proposal – a 50% reduction beginning on April 15 – may suggest that the league believes its losses this season will total more than the $1.2 billion he estimated in his article.

If the two sides can’t come to a satisfactory agreement that helps maintain the revenue split, the players would simply be delaying rather than avoiding the financial impact of the suspended season. The effects would be felt if and when the NBA invokes the “force majeure” clause for canceled games, which would unilaterally reduce players’ salaries and could result in re-opened CBA negotiations. The salary cap for 2020/21 could also drop substantially if players earn a much larger portion of the revenue split than owners in ’19/20.

Force Majeure Provision Opens Window To New CBA

March 31st, 2020 at 10:00pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the 2019/20 NBA season and it could have a lasting effect on the financial structure of the league.

The “force majeure” provision in the latest CBA covers a variety of catastrophic circumstances, including epidemics and pandemics, and it calls for players to lose approximately one percent of their salary per canceled game. It’s automatically triggered once games are canceled, though the league has simply “suspended” the season at this point.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports that if the force majeure provision is triggered, the league has the ability to re-open and renegotiate the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, which runs through 2025. There have been no conversations yet between the NBA and the Players Association about utilizing this feature.

The league and the union are discussing withholding 25% of players’ remaining salaries in an escrow in the event that the remainder of the regular season is canceled, per Wojnarowski. If no agreement is reached on withholding players salaries beginning on April 15, players would continue to be paid in full and would be required to pay back a portion of their salaries down the road if games are canceled.

Under the current CBA, the league holds 10% of players’ salaries in escrow and returns it to them at the end of the season. However, the amount of projected revenue lost for the 2019/20 season exceeds the $380MM that the league has in escrow, so players and teams will likely attempt to work out an arrangement to mitigate those losses.

Another variable is how players get paid. Around 10% of players including LeBron James, are paid their full salary in 12 installments between November 15 and May 1. The overwhelming majority of players receive their income spread out over a full year – November 15 to November 1 – though some players receive larger installments as part of the payout structure. The NBA doesn’t want a scenario where it has to chase down players to recoup payment.

The league, as Woj adds, is hopeful that it can resume part of the regular season before entering the postseason. It has no plan to announce the cancellation of the season, preferring to continue to look for ways to salvage the campaign.

NBPA Aligned With NBA On Goal Of Saving Season

March 17th, 2020 at 10:33pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The NBA suspended the season earlier this month amid the coronavirus pandemic. Nobody wants the season to be canceled, with NBPA executive director Michele Roberts telling Mark Medina of USA Today that the union is aligned with the league in trying to save the season.

“If you look at our CBA, there is some troubling language if you are a player,” said Roberts. “I’m a lawyer by training and the concept of a ‘force majeure’ is common in any contract. … No matter what differences we may have in the league in the past or going forward, we’re actively on the same page about trying to save our season and trying to save our playoffs.”

The NBA’s Board of Governors met with former U.S. Surgeon General Vivej Murthy earlier today and the stakeholders left the meeting with feelings of optimism that the season will resume before July, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).

“The revenue consequences are significant,” Roberts continued. “Sure, there is language that allows the league to enforce what they perceive to be a ‘force majeure’ and that would have an impact on compensation for players going forward. But if it happens, there would be a recognition the league is prepared to lose tens of millions of dollars. If we can’t play games or we can’t have our playoffs, we’re going to have an economic hit.”

Robert was asked if the conversations with the NBA have been more about trying to save the season than invoking any clause that would alleviate the owners’ financial burden.

“That’s right on the money,” she said. “We want to play games and we want to do it in a way that’s safe. …It’s very difficult to say by ‘X date,’ we’re going to resume the games. That would be foolish. But we’re not throwing in the towel.”