The NBA (National Basketball Association) has asked the players to take a 50 percent pay cut. This is according to Shams Charania, a senior lead National Basketball Association insider.
Sources: The NBA is proposing to the NBPA that players take a 50 percent paycheck reduction beginning April 15. The NBPA has counter-proposed a 25 percent reduction of paychecks starting in mid-May.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 3, 2020
The NBPA wants to take a pay cut of only 25 percent by mid-May. These proposals by both the National Basketball Association and the NBPA will probably enter long negotiations in the coming months.
NBA Players Could Take 50 Percent Pay Cut by Mid-April
A report from Sportsnet stated that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has also taken a 20 percent pay cut to his salary. Also, the top 100 executives of the NBA’s league office will also take a pay cut.
The NBA is reducing base salaries by 20 percent of approximately 100 of the league office’s top-earning executives around the world, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 26, 2020
While these measures are shocking, it is not surprising. The spread of the coronavirus will likely hit a lot of small and large businesses hard. Sacrifices will have to be made for all parties involved.
According to RealGM Wiretap, the National Basketball Association players received their payment in full on April 1st, but it was unclear how future payments would be paid. Expect the negotiations to begin between the NBA and the NBPA.
Other Prominent Sports Leagues Asking Pay Cut Reductions
The NBA is not the only prominent league asking players to get a pay cut reduction. The Barclays Premier League in England is also looking at a reduction of their player salaries according to Richard Parry of the Evening Standard.
Premier League clubs have “unanimously agreed to consult their players regarding a combination of conditional reductions and deferrals amounting to 30 percent of total annual remuneration.”
Expect other prominent professional sports leagues to do the same. According to Emily Kaplan of ESPN, the NHL temporarily has asked its employees to take a pay cut of 25 percent. The NHL season runs parallel to the NBA. It is possible that they may ask their players to also take a pay cut.
It is a strange time in sports right now. These cuts may look extreme but are necessary and essential for the NBA to take. The NBA is a well-established league that will survive the coronavirus. However, everyone within the NBA will need to make sacrifices in the short-term. This is so that the NBA brand can remain prosperous in the long-term.
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