With every passing day in which there is no basketball, the NBA is hemorrhaging money. How those losses will be apportioned and the extent to which the league recoups a proportion of them from the players is a topic that has been discussed quite a bit, according to reports.
In short, with the league last playing games on March 11 and the league currently involved in an involuntary work stoppage, the NBA’s owners are within their right to begin withholding wages from the league’s players, the majority of whom are paid on a semi-monthly schedule that sees payments made on approximately the 15th and 30th of each month.
Although it’s not known how seriously the league’s owners may have considered attempting to withhold wages from the players on March 30, then league did eventually agree to pay players in full on that date. The truth is, however, that the checks will eventually get smaller so long as the suspension continues. That was made abundantly clear by the fact that the league’s owners didn’t commit to paying the players in full after the March 30 payment…
Until they did.
On Thursday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the league has committed to paying players their full salaries on April 15 — the second payment covering a period in which no games were paid. In effect, what this means is that, except in a few instances, the owners will have paid players for 15 to 18 games that were never played.
If nothing else, the agreement to continue paying players in full means that the league’s owners and its players’ union continue to have a harmonious working relationship. That’s good considering the current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire in 2024.
Chris Paul, currently serving as the president of the NBA players union, tweeted shortly after Charania’s report regarding the April 15 payment cycle. Although it’s not known whether or not Paul’s tweet was directly related to the news, it has been reported that he and the other representatives, as well as the union’s executive committee, have been talking with the commissioner’s office and other owner representatives quite frequently over the past few weeks.
“DAMN our Exec Committee is so dope!!! Some of the smartest, most selfless guys!! @TheNBPA,” Paul tweeted.
As it stands, there’s no telling when, or even if the NBA will return this season.
At least for now, though, the players aren’t feeling it in their pockets. Paul probably hopes to keep that reality for as long as possible.
