For players quickly trying to ramp up their games for the NBA restart in Orlando — which starts tonight (Thursday) — injuries were a significant concern. Going quickly from 0 to 100, or from being quarantined in their home to NBA games, just increased the risks of injuries. Potentially serious ones.
The NBA and NBPA have answered that with an increased insurance payment — 2.5 million for a career-ending injury, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
ESPN Sources: After months of talks, @TheNBPA has reached agreement with NBA to raise insurance policy coverage for players to a $2.5M benefit for career-ending injuries. Policy covers on-and-off court injuries, including complications from Covid-19. Previous payout was $312K.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 30, 2020
While $2.5 million is a lot of money, for some young players it will not seem like enough. Jayson Tatum is a lock to get a max contract extension from the Celtics, as is Donovan Mitchell with the Jazz, and likely Brandon Ingram from the Pelicans (who also may extend Lonzo Ball). That’s not even getting into Bam Adebayo with Miami or De’Aaron Fox with Sacramento. For all of them, a major injury heading into a contract year would be devastating.
The league and players’ union also agreed to keep taking 25% of players’ paychecks to be put in an escrow fund to balance out the books at the end of this season and into the next one. It makes sense, the players and NBA split “basketball-related income,” and the NBA is taking a financial bath without fans watching games in arenas.
Also: NBPA and NBA agreed to keep the Force Majeure withholding percentage of players salaries to 25 percent, sources tell ESPN. NBA started to withhold 25 percent of remaining salary on May 15 and had a right to adjust percentage based on number of resumed or canceled games. https://t.co/ItpdaJgtP4
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 30, 2020
There are no reported plans to tear up and redo the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement — the players certainly would not want to do that in this economic climate. Some owners... that may be a different story. Right now, Adam Silver has been able to keep everyone playing nice, but if the economic situation worsens considerably for the league, that may be hard to do.
