Adrian Wojnarowski: The NBA and NBPA have agreed that each side will have the right to terminate the Collective Bargaining Agreement following the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons, sources tell ESPN. There was already a mutual option to terminate following 2022-2023 season.
More on CBA talks
Ian Begley: NBA says its Board of Governors unanimously approved the CBA changes previously agreed to by the league and the NBPA: pic.twitter.com/TpHpKXFAZf
“No one is passing up that money,” one player entering a contract season told HoopsHype. “It’s better than $90 million. As long as guys are in a similar range, everybody is relatively protected, and we can make large amounts of money.”
Adrian Wojnarowski: The NBA and NBPA have reached agreement on an amended CBA, sources tell @Tim Bontemps and me. Free agency begins at 6 PM on Nov. 20, with signings allowed at 12:01 PM on Nov. 22.
Tim Bontemps: The salary cap ($109.1 million) and luxury tax ($132.7 million) will remain the same next season. In future seasons, the cap and tax will increase by a minimum of 3 percent — and a maximum of 10 percent, sources said.
Tim Bontemps: Besides the salary cap & luxury tax remaining the same this season as they were in 2019-20, there will be a reduction in the luxury tax bill for teams at the end of the season based off the percentage BRI decreased from initial projections during the 2020-21 season, sources said.
Tim Bontemps: The two sides have agreed to keep the typical 10 percent escrow from player salaries, with any further reductions being spread out across that season and the following two seasons. No single season will ever have a greater reduction than 20 percent, sources said.
Paul Garcia: Agreement in principle between the NBA and NBAPA
Shams Charania: The NBA and NBPA are extending today’s deadline to Monday for either side to serve notice on terminating the collective bargaining agreement, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Sides will continue working to finalize CBA issues.
Shams Charania: Sources The NBA and NBPA are discussing a minimum of 2 percent annual growth in the salary cap and luxury tax for the duration of the collective bargaining agreement. Cap is expected to be $109M this offseason.
Frank Madden: For some context, if cap goes up only 2% for 21/22 then it would put a Giannis supermax value at around $226m/5 years (same if he signs this offseason or next). Other teams could offer a projected $144/4 years if he hit FA in ‘21. A year ago the projections were $254m/$161m.
Adrian Wojnarowski: The NBPA player rep vote has completed, approving a December 22 start/72-game regular season, source tells ESPN. Next up: NBA/NBPA finishes financial terms on amended CBA, which will take into next week. Expect trade moratorium to be lifted shortly prior to Nov. 18 Draft.
Tim Reynolds: There's no agreement on the money - yet - but the NBA's player representatives have decided to back the notion of a Dec. 22 start to the season, AP is told. Talks between the union and league will continue on matters like escrow/COVID testing/etc.
Bobby Marks: Here is what an 18% escrow would look like for some of the top earners: Steph Curry ➡️$43M to $35.3M 🔽$7.4M LeBron James ➡️$39.2M to $32.2M 🔽$7.0M Kawhi Leonard ➡️$34.4M to $28.2M 🔽$6.2M Total player escrow projects from $720M to $800M
The NBA has pushed back to Friday a deadline that keeps open the option of terminating the collective bargaining agreement, which would essentially blow up the league's financial structure that allows for a 50-50 split of basketball related income (BRI) under the provisions of the CBA. Because of the coronavirus pandemic triggering a force majeure clause in the CBA, both sides have the option of serving notice of 45 days on terminating the agreement, sources said.
Shams Charania: The NBA and NBPA are extending today’s deadline to Nov. 6 for either side to serve notice on terminating the collective bargaining agreement, sources tell @The Athletic @Stadium.
Scott Agness: Just in: NBA and NBPA to push back a potential decision to terminate the CBA to Nov. 6.
Adrian Wojnarowski: ESPN Sources: For fourth time, NBA and NBPA agree to extend deadline to serve notice on terminating the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Extension goes to Nov. 6 now, which allows additional time for talks on CBA modifications. Discussions are ongoing this weekend.
Adrian Wojnarowski: There's still a gulf between NBA and NBPA on a start date for the 2020-2021 season, sources tell ESPN. NBA wants pre-Christmas; NBPA still preferring mid-January. Economic issues remain significant, including escrow withholding on player salaries w/ revenues down b/c of no fans.
Tim Reynolds: It's a one-week extension of the opt-out window for the NBA and NBPA, AP is told. The CBA could expire Dec. 14 (and likely chaos ensues) if either side decides to opt out once the new Nov. 6 deadline hits.
Michael McCann: In the unlikely event NBA or NBA serves notice to terminate CBA, both sides would then be obligated to engage in good faith negotiations for 60 days. No strike or lockout during that time. If still no deal? Then it could get litigious fast, with antitrust law entering the room.
Jared Dudley: Can’t play 50 games .. Thats a hard no for the players! Has to be a min of 72.. the real question is what change in a week? The league kept saying January January.. Everybody knew how big Christmas was and Olympics being late July months ago.. TV just mentioned it now??
Marc Stein: NBA players may only be offered a 50-game season, I'm told, if the union insists on a mid-January start rather than the Dec. 22 proposal, because the league's television partners do not want the 2020-21 season to stray past mid-July ... or clash with the Tokyo Olympics
Marc Stein: A 50-game season would reduce player salaries significantly in 2020-21, since NBA pay adheres to a regular-season schedule The NBA's 72-game model calls for teams to play roughly 14 games a month through May, followed by the playoffs through mid-July -- before the Olympics begin
Marc Stein: The Pacers' Malcolm Brogdon, who is on the union's executive committee, told @Rachel__Nichols yesterday he expects today's deadline on talks to be extended for the fourth time this year. But a resolution in the standoff is expected by next week with all sides antsy for clarity.
Tim Reynolds: Can confirm that the league’s television partners are adamant — they want to start Dec. 22, though what I’m hearing on a season potential end date is slightly different than what Marc has here (but he’s in the Hall of Fame and I’m barely allowed to buy a ticket to go there).
Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon said that he "absolutely" expects Friday's deadline for the NBA or the National Basketball Players Association to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement to be pushed back, as the two sides work through several issues ahead of returning to play for the 2020-21 season.
"Absolutely," Brogdon, an NBPA vice president, said Thursday in an appearance on ESPN's The Jump, when asked if he expected the deadline to be pushed back. "The way talks are going, this is a super complicated issue, and there's a lot to balance. [There's] a lot of minds working on this collaboratively, on both sides. So it's going to take some time. I don't think a few weeks, but I think it will take at least a few more days."
"I think those are the two options," Brogdon said. "We're either going to start MLK Day, which I think a lot of the players are leaning towards, or we're going to start the 22nd, Christmas time. But the huge difference is revenue. Revenue, and trying to get the season back on track to start in that September-October range. So I think calculations are being done on both sides on how much revenue would be lost for each potential date, and we'll have to come to some type of agreement and go from there."
Bobby Marks: There’s a path to getting a deal done between both sides but it’s going to take the players association to sell their members on why a 12/22 start is critical when it comes to future revenue. Starting in mid-January would be detrimental to the economic growth of the league.
The most pressing items Roberts wants to resolve include clarity on the league’s salary cap and when free agency will start. "We’re probably closer toward resolving that issue," Roberts said. "Frankly, that is something we can’t hold off for deciding too much longer."
"We have free agents that are losing their minds, as are teams that want to engage and negotiate. So that’s something we don’t have the luxury of delaying a decision on," Roberts said. "As tough as this is, it’s not life or death. We want to do it right and not do it quickly if it sacrifices doing it right. In my view, we take as long as we need to take. But we can all agree we don’t want to drag this on unnecessarily. The players are probably the most anxious stakeholders in this business to get this done."
Under current NBA rules, a player only receives a five-game suspension after their third positive test. "Honestly, I think pot becomes legal in the next collective bargaining agreement," said Bill Simmons on the Zach Lowe podcast. "That was another lesson we learned from this bubble. They weren't testing for pot. Could that have been one of the factors [why] quality of play was better? Maybe? Recovery?" "If you're going to have players live in the bubble in Disneyworld for three-and-a-half money, you've got to make some allowances," replied Lowe.
The NBA and NBPA agreed on a new Oct. 30 deadline to complete ongoing discussions on modifications to the CBA for the 2020-21 season, a date that requires the league or union to provide 45 days notice if either decides to terminate the CBA -- a scenario that sources continue to believe is a remote possibility.
Ongoing talks are centering on increased escrow taken from players' salaries, sources said. The league and union are still awaiting full audits on the Basketball Related Income that accounts for the league's 51-49 revenue split with players.
The NBA and NBPA are working on a resetting of the 2020-21 salary-cap and luxury-tax numbers based upon those audits and financial projections for the next year. This allows for teams, agents and players to have more time to prepare for the financial realities of the pandemic's impact on the league. As the NBA Draft approaches on Nov. 18 -- and free agency expected to start soon after -- teams are anxious for the league to reach an agreement with the union and deliver them more certainty on the cap and tax bills.
Adrian Wojnarowski: ESPN Sources: For third time, NBA and NBPA agree to extend deadline to serve notice on terminating the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Extension goes to Oct. 30 now, which allows additional time for talks on CBA modifications that sources say continue to be productive.
Adrian Wojnarowski: As the NBA and NBPA negotiate adjustments to the CBA because of the coronavirus pandemic, each side has until October 30 to give 45 days notice on terminating CBA. While that's still on table, there's optimism an agreement on adjusted terms will be in place prior to Nov 18 draft.
There are issues that need to be resolved fairly quickly after the Finals end, correct? Michele Roberts: Our players and the teams are on the same place here: We need to get a cap and we need to know what the tax is. I think the teams want to … as quickly as possible after the draft and before free agency … plan and prepare. I don’t blame them. The worst positions for teams to be in is having no certainty. One of the first orders of business will have to be to agree on the cap, agree on the tax, so teams can draft intelligently, trade intelligently and deal with free agency. And our players want to know too. It’s amazing what needs to be accomplished in the next six weeks, but it has to be done. I feel sooner rather than later.
At times, the fear of a lockout has also come up. Michele Roberts: Nobody wants that. When the players ask me now: Michele, do you think the owners are going to try to lock us out? I use the analysis: the revenue hit is not to be ignored. But do I think we’re not going to rebound and make money again and again soon … I do think we will. You don’t kill the golden goose. I would bet there is not a chance of a lockout. If it happens, it will be absolutely because they are unreasonable and folks without any foresight are driving the train. I happen to think that Adam is neither of those.
Michele Roberts: Adjustments are going to have to be made so we can all walk away with some pain but not unfairly distributed. We’re talking about doing this in a way that doesn’t do significant damage to the players or owners. Here’s the key: Not everyone enjoys the longevity that someone like LeBron (James) does. Most guys are not going to play 15 years, 16 years, 17 years. Our shelf life is less than five years. The good news about being a team owner is you can own that team for decades and that team’s value has, in recent years, increased year-over-year. I don’t think the virus is going to impact these teams moving forward long term.
How do you guys go about closing any gaps? Michele Roberts: It comes down to if it’s a $6 billion pie and our owners are entitled to 49 percent, and they’re already committed to $5 billion in player salaries and fixed costs for example, where’s the rest of their money? There’s ways to take that $6 billion and get to their 49 percent. One of the ways to do it is to slash player salaries. I got to deal with a constituency that, you slash their salaries, this may be for many of my guys on the last two or three years of their careers. Is there a way to deal with that? And we’ll never say to the owners: Y’all just going to have to eat the loss. Who’s going to do that? They’re not stupid. They’re not just going to say, OK, yeah you’re right, we’re just going to have to lose a couple billion dollars on our own. That’s not going to happen. Instead what you say is, can we figure out a way to manage that so there is no loss, but there isn’t an immediate pay day.
“We have to talk about money and what we’re going to do about this reduced revenue situation,” Roberts said. “It can be easily resolved if everyone agrees.” Her goal, for now, is to simply find a way to get into next season. Start there, and the rest could be easier to figure out. “If there’s an effort to do more than that, then it’s going to be more complicated,” Roberts said. “Then we’re back to full-blown CBA negotiations. And that’s not something that’s going to be resolved in a couple of weeks or a couple of months.”
“There’s no doubt there are issues on the table that need to be negotiated,” Silver said during his annual press conference, prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals Wednesday night. “I think it’s — we’ve managed to work through every other issue so far. I think we have a constructive relationship with them. We share all information. We look at our various business models together. So I think while no doubt there will be issues and there will be some difficult negotiations ahead, I fully expect we’ll work them out, as we always have.”
Adrian Wojnarowski: In a memo to teams today, the NBA explains that pushing the draft date back from October 16 allows for a pre-draft prep and a combine, more time to gather information on the potential start date for next season, and the advancing of talks with the NBPA on CBA matters.
When reached for comment, the NBA indicated that wearables are prohibited for in-game use. In the NBA's Operations Manual, all specialized equipment must be approved in advance by the Basketball Operations Department before a player can wear it during a game. The question becomes whether a WHOOP device under a sweatband on a wrist is classified any differently than a splint or padded cast -- which are very much allowed. The players' union, sources say, considers it an "open issue" until July 1, when the new CBA kicks in, as there is no language in the current CBA that outright bans wearables.
Speaking at his annual state-of-the-NBA address on the eve of Sunday's All-Star Game, Silver was asked about the age minimum and if it's an issue that doesn't need a collective bargaining agreement negotiation to revisit. "Well, first of all, we absolutely need the union in order to revisit the age," Silver said. "The current age minimum of 19 years old, but something Michele and I discussed directly -- and this is different than last time we negotiated a Collective Bargaining Agreement -- is that rather than say to you that talk to us in seven years when we sit back down to negotiate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, I think she and I both agree that it's the kind of issue that needs to be studied, in essence, outside of the bright lights of collective bargaining."
Michele Roberts: It’s the same thing with any negotiation -- you need to understand what the person on the other side of the V needs to get done, can’t do, probably will. And as long as that person on the other side of the V is a) relatively intelligent, b) honest, which I think is probably key, and c) is equally willing to appreciate what you have to be mindful of, then you can get things done. I found Adam to be honest, and that was, as I said, the key to me. I suggested, as we got to know each other, I made a promise to him that I would never lie to him, and if I did, he probably would know that I was lying to him. And I asked him to do the same. We were able to operate from a position of respect, and I think our teams did the same. Just don’t hide anything, don’t alter the truth, tell me what you really think, and I’ll tell you what I really think, and let’s see if we can find some common ground. They had a good team. They’re pretty sharp over there. And we’re pretty good, too.
MR: We had, internally, calls and memos with our guys to make sure we understood what they wanted and for them to make sure they understood the league’s position, and sort of the historical issues. There were insights that they brought to the discussions that, frankly, I couldn’t, because I’ve been a fan for the last 50 years. They’ve been playing for 10, 12. It would have been a different negotiation, I’m confident, if we hadn’t taken in what the players had to say, or taken advantage of the contributions they could make. They were fabulous, fabulous -- up until the very last second when we said we have a deal, I was on the phone with Chris, [James Jones], 'Melo, thank goodness, was in New York, LeBron was weighing in. I know every single member of the Executive Committee was involved -- including Stevie Blake, until he left the game.
Me: Was it at all odd seeing Jordan sitting there, representing the owners’ position? MR: I thought it was fabulous. One of the things -- it was clear -- was that he was the one person in the room that could see both sides. And I think everybody was mindful of that. So when Michael spoke, everybody really listened. Because he just had the benefit of being both a player and now an owner. I was absolutely enamored with the fact that he was there. Because he brought with him a certain amount of credibility that I could both respect and the players could respect. I don’t know why he became a member of the Negotiating Committee, but it was a good move.
Tim Bontemps: The NBA and the NBPA have announced they've signed the new collective bargaining agreement. The seven-year deal will run through 2024.
The 2017 CBA added a veteran-designated-player rule to further help teams retain their biggest stars, a particular benefit to the small-market teams that tend to lose those free agents to bigger markets. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports: Yet, privately, there are still small-market executives who will tell you that the NBA and players association didn’t go far enough in this agreement. Some smaller-market executives still believe they’ll struggle to keep stars, think the league should go as far as skewing salaries for players on teams in higher-tax-bracket states, eliminating the edge that places like Texas and Florida have with no state income tax.
With Jordan, now the league's most famous owner, working over his fellow co-owners to lend a very influential assist along with current stars like Chris Paul, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony voicing their desire to take care of the previous generations of NBA players, the NBA will become the first professional sports league to offer retired players medical benefits as part of a comprehensive and enhanced player retirement package. "That was kind of a big point for us to be able to give back to retired players," Anthony told ESPN concerning the recent collective bargaining agreement negotiations. "Every league sees what happens to retired players after a certain period of time. But for us to be able to take care of those guys, I know how much it means to them."
From the NBA: The new Collective Bargaining Agreement was ratified this week by the NBA players and NBA Board of Governors. The new agreement will take effect on July 1, 2017 and run through the 2023-24 season. The parties voted based on a term sheet that outline the key deal points. Once the NBA and NBPA finish drafting and execute the complete agreement, specific details will be released.
Jeff Zillgitt: NBA players have ratified the collective bargaining agreement, making the deal between the league and NBPA official, I've been told.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of collective bargaining negotiations. Rockets officials would not comment about any part of the CBA, ratified by the NBA board of governors on Wednesday. But one individual, speaking on the condition of anonymity said, "We would probably give him a 100-year extension." The Rockets could have preferred to wait on a new deal for Harden, since the extension he signed in July keeps him under contract through at least the 2017-18 season.
The NBA's new labor deal, agreed upon last Wednesday, will create for the first time an independent medical panel to settle life-and-death cases, according to details obtained by Bleacher Report. When a player is declared medically "unfit" to play, his case can be referred to the panel by his team, by the league or by the players association. If the panel determines the player has a life-threatening condition, it could bar him from playing in the NBA again.
Because his condition predates the new labor deal, Bosh will be exempt from the new protocols—i.e., his case cannot be submitted without his consent, sources said. However, Bosh himself can initiate the process. He could even do so before the new labor deal takes effect on July 1, with the agreement of league and union officials.
A new labor deal in the NBA is on the verge of being finalized, after owners voted Wednesday to approve a proposed seven-year collective bargaining agreement that was tentatively agreed to last week. The owners' vote was unanimous and players are expected to finish casting their ballots in the coming days, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the NBA nor the National Basketball Players Association has revealed specifics about the voting process publicly.
In both cases, the voting processes are no more than formality. When the sides agreed last week, there was no question the required votes to ratify would come from both sides.
Jon Krawczynski: AP Sources with @Tim Reynolds: NBA owners unanimously approve CBA
The National Basketball Association’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement includes a special provision that grandfathers Houston’s James Harden and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook into the windfall of super-max contract extensions available to several star players this summer, league sources told The Vertical. This summer, Westbrook could sign a five-year, $219 million contract extension that would begin in the 2018-19 season. He’ll make $28.5 million in 2017-18.
The NBA’s Board of Governors and the Players Association will vote on ratifying the seven-year CBA this week, league sources told The Vertical. The owners and players have been provided with deal-point memos to study the agreements, and both sides are expected to approve the CBA.
Curry, who will have eight years of service in July, will be eligible to sign for 35 percent of the salary cap (Tier 1 max) because he would have met the All-NBA criterion. The new rule incentivizes All-Star-level players to remain with their current teams. The new pact would see Curry earn a contract valued at $209 million over the next five years. If Curry were to leave in free agency, the most a team could offer is four years, $132 million.
Because Durant would need to be signed with cap space, the large cap holds of both Shaun Livingston ($10.9 million) and Andre Iguodala ($16.7 million) would need to be renounced. Curry’s $18 million free-agent cap hold will now be replaced with a likely $36 million salary. The remainder of the roster would be filled using the room mid-level exception and minimum players, meaning the total committed salaries for next season will likely be $135 million. Golden State will likely be in the luxury tax with a $21.5 million penalty. A. Under contract Kevin Durant $36,050,000. Stephen Curry $36,050,000. Klay Thompson $17,826,150. Draymond Green $16,400,000.
On Wednesday, the NBA and NBPA agreed to a new labor deal, to be formalized and ratified by January 13. Basketball Insiders obtained a copy of the term sheet and detailed a number of rule adjustments (Understanding Terms of NBA, NBPA’s Agreement). One area of significant change in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) revolves around veteran extensions. A player on a contract of three or four years in length will now be eligible to sign an extension after the second anniversary of signing their current deal. The existing rules only permit extensions after the third anniversary of a four-year deal.
Rosters will increase from a minimum of 13 players to 14 but the number of empty roster charges (at $815,615 for the 2017-18 season) will remain at 12. If a team does not reach the minimum salary, they are obligated to compensate the players on their roster for the shortfall. The new agreement clarifies that the additional payment cannot push a players’ total salary over their individual maximum. The fines for suspensions will be reduced to 1/145th of a players’ base compensation, although it will remain at 1/110th for suspensions of 20 games or more.
Penalties for using a steroid, performance-enhancing drug will be 25 games for a first-time offender and 55 for a second. The NBA has also agreed to return half of the penalties for 24 flopping fines to the impacted players. In turn, the NBPA will drop its pending “Unfair Labor Practice charge.” Moving forward, both sides will collectively bargain over potential penalties for on-court conduct rules. While the moratorium will end on July 6, the NBA will determine the salary cap for each coming season before the moratorium begins – on July 1.
While the new CBA is sure to be less than perfect -- and perhaps even unfair depending on your point of view -- the fact is both sides are bringing in more revenue than ever before, making a protracted work stoppage even more untenable than usual. "I think, at the end of the day, it always comes down to that one thing and that’s money," said Lillard. "Everybody is making it."
"Being able to meet people halfway is important during an agreement, during negotiations, but we’ve got to realize where we came from," said McCollum. "We were getting 57 percent of the BRI, so technically (the owners) are still winning. But we’re all winning, at the end of the day, we all get to play a game we love for a living, but old times were 57 percent... Obviously we have lawyers and we have attorneys to kind of dig into the paperwork and show some things, because we get 49 percent (of BRI) after expenses. And you know how businessmen are, they know how to write off a lot of things to make it look like it’s not actually going into their pockets. Interesting to see how we deal with that."
In January, Wall signed with agent Rich Paul, who under the old CBA had negotiated hefty deals for clients who have not reached Wall’s status, among them Eric Bledsoe (five years, $70 million with the Phoenix Suns) and Tristan Thompson (five years, $82 million with the Cleveland Cavaliers). When his time comes, Wall will merit a sizable contract — and if an NBA honor activates the option of a designated veteran extension, then all the better. “I just look past it and try to play the game,” Wall said. “Be the best I can and help my team and try to make the playoffs. If it happens, it happens. But it would be a great honor to be able to get a bigger extension with those things involved into it.”
As Wall has emerged as the face of the franchise, he has felt underappreciated by the rest of the league, and the new CBA, which was tentatively agreed to by the league and its players’ union on Wednesday night, could unwittingly buttress his perception. On Thursday, Wall addressed the proposed designated veteran rule and how it might affect his contract status. “I feel like it’s amazing and crazy because I had my best year, like, two years ago, my second year [as an] all-star, I averaged 20 and 10 and was a starter but couldn’t make all-NBA team,” Wall said. “So I mean, you want those individual accolades but it’s to the point that [if] you get your recognition, then you get it. You only get those [individual honors] by winning. When I did and had an opportunity to win, I still didn’t make it.”
The Wizards have only five games on TNT and ESPN and none on ABC. The lack of exposure could be an impediment when it comes to starting in the All-Star Game (decided by fan vote) and the highest individual regular season honors, all-NBA, MVP and defensive player of the year (selected by members of the media). “We don’t play on TV a lot so a lot of people don’t get to see us play. If you don’t have NBA League Pass and stuff like that, you don’t see the things that I’m doing in the game or what we’re doing trying to win,” Wall said Thursday. “So if you ain’t checking on Twitter and stuff like that, you don’t know. All these other teams get a lot of TV games, that’s why they get these accolades from the media and fan votes. Until we get an opportunity to be on TV more, it would be tough for people to realize and see what I do.”
And yet now in 2016, with the two sides tentatively reaching an amicable new collective-bargaining agreement well in advance of any serious rancor, rhetoric or actual repercussions, Jordan emerged as one of the most important voices in the room. Members of both the owners’ and players’ negotiating committees lauded Jordan’s contributions in exclusive interviews with NBA.com. “It’s an emotional endeavor on both sides,” said Cleveland Cavaliers forward James Jones, secretary-treasurer of the National Basketball Players Association. “So you have to speak on the same frequency. Mike is able to do that, because he understands the opposition.”
“The imagery of negotiations between players and owners,” Jones said, “is where you envision players on one side, owners on the other, both jockeying for position, both not wanting to flinch, both wanting to put their strongest face forward. Tone and rhetoric is a huge part of that. Mike is able to defuse that. He understands the passion that players have. He understands that language and he’s able to digest it and relay it to the owners. And he’s also able to relay the owners’ sentiments and viewpoints. “That makes a very trying and taxing situation a lot more manageable and bearable.”
“There was a lot of pressure from the players to try to reduce restrictions and increase their mobility,” Edens said. “Michael certainly had that perspective as a player. But now as an owner, he realizes how important it is to have parity in the league and for your team to have the best chance to keep its players for a long time.” It wasn’t happenstance that Jordan became such an asset in facilitating this agreement. Silver apparently drew him out, playing the “MJ card” often. “Adam is smart,” a player said. “He understood what it would mean to have Michael in that room and to use him as a resource, someone that would resonate with the players. So whenever he spoke, he always turned to [Jordan] and asked, ‘What do you think, Michael?’ ”
Albert Nahmad: Draymond Green is one of few expressing displeasure with the new CBA, saying it could negatively impact certain players. Salary increases and other changes could cause more non max or exception players to make less as % of BRI (w/ more closer to/at min salary). Of course, BRI is growing and the overall pie is bigger with expanded BRI definition, both of which benefit all players in dollar terms.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green explained his tweets expressing displeasure with the the tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, saying "it's not about me." "I'm not [pleased], for several reasons," Green said at shootaround Thursday before a game against the New York Knicks. "It's not about me."
Specifically, the NBA and NBPA will pay for a comprehensive health insurance program beginning Jan. 1 for all retired players with three-plus years of service. Pensions will also be increasing by nearly 50 percent, with payments for retirees beginning at age 50. The old agreement was most beneficial to players who began collecting payments at age 62. “I’m proud of them stepping up for the retired players, because we really need that,” Payton said. “We see a lot of retired players in every sport that have grey hair now and are broke. Some become homeless, or you see a guy like [former NFL running back] Earl Campbell, and he can barely walk. We don’t need to have that with the way that those players paved the way for us.”
Connor Letourneau: Draymond Green took issue with how the league's role players are compensated under the new CBA. "I'm speaking for them," he said. pic.twitter.com/6i2Jc1TLY1
Anthony Slater: More Draymond Green on the labor deal. Says it's not necessarily about BRI split, but about helping minimum players pic.twitter.com/Q2WIKReBx1
