Is it possible that Avery Bradley and other players step away from basketball this season?

[zimpy27]

Avery Bradley was one of the few players that didn't commit to the Bubble. The reason that Avery didn't commit to the Bubble was because of his son's poor history recovering from respiratory problems.

So why would starting a new season without the protection of the Bubble be better? It won't be better, it will be worse.

In the case of Avery, he recently got new representation. Perhaps he's looking to assess options and his contractual obligations. It might be to look for ways he can get paid without going to games. I personally don't think there will be an option for Bradley and it's probably likely he opts out and steps away from the game.

How many other players will be in this situation? How many players see their parents and fear going through what KAT just went through? Will the players not see their family?

I could see a situation where a number of players step away from the game for this season, especially low paid ones.

What are the rights of contracted players? If they are healthy then do they have to play?

[Tor_Raps]

Never thought about that. What is the opt in/out deadline? Do the players who opt out, and are under contract, forfeit their entire salary?

[zimpy27]

Never thought about that. What is the opt in/out deadline? Do the players who opt out, and are under contract, forfeit their entire salary?

I don't really know the dates. Even players without opt-out ability may want to retire instead.

I imagine a number of players are working with agents to assess the way to get paid the most without playing. If they refuse to play then I believe they forfeit their contract.

[azcatz11]

NFL players received between $150k - $300k I think depending on tenure if they opted out...I'd be surprised if the NBA didn't have something similar for this season.

[SA37]

I would imagine most players are not in a financial position to walk away even for a year. According to Hoopshype, he has a player option for the coming season, so I imagine he'll try one of two things 1) top opt-in and collect his money despite sitting out or 2) he will opt-out if he can convince the Lakers to sign him long-term but get them to agree to subtract whatever amount he would have originally made this coming season. (If the Lakers had planned to offer him, say, a 4-year, $40 million deal, he could sign for $30 million; the Lakers would save $10 million and Bradley would get his financial stability.) I can only imagine the Lakers would agree to something like this if they had a team option after 3 years and if they could qualify for a disabled player exemption for the coming season.

If none of that is possible (I don't see him having success), you have to wonder how this would affect his ability to earn whatever he would lose financially if he ever decided to try to come back. He is about to turn 30, so in theory, the earliest he would return would be at 31. It is unlikely anyone would give him a multi-year deal after not having played for 18 months. He'd probably have to sign a 1-year deal -- probably for the minimum -- which would make him a 32-year-old FA role player.

I remember Jrue Holiday stopped playing for some time when his wife was daignosed with a brain tumor (I think that is what it was), but I don't know if he was given permission to leave or if he was still paid or what the arrangement was. That might set a precedent of sorts for Bradley and others.

[kenwood3333]

Bradley almost got bounced out of the league due to his injury history and inconsistent play. I doubt he can financially afford to step away from basketball. But a lot of players are poor with numbers so he might be delusional to think he can.

[chitownsalesmen]

Realistically theirs going to be a vaccine soon and theirs a lot of money on the line. These guys are top notch athletes, president Trump(not making this political) is 74 years old, overweight, is well known to eat a lot of fast-food and recovered from COVID in less then a week.

It would be pretty financially devastating for a player to skip this season when the cap is expected to continue to trend downward for the next few seasons due to the revenue hit the NBA took in 19-20 and is expecting to take in 20-21, the relative risk is easily worth mitigating the financial loss especially for a guy like Bradley who is about to turn 30 and has relatively meager career earnings for a 10 year vet, who then may find himself having to take a vet minimum deal at age 31 as he tries to reestablish himself as an NBA player after a potentially nearly 2 year hiatus.

[zimpy27]

Realistically theirs going to be a vaccine soon and theirs a lot of money on the line. These guys are top notch athletes, president Trump(not making this political) is 74 years old, overweight, is well known to eat a lot of fast-food and recovered from COVID in less then a week.

It would be pretty financially devastating for a player to skip this season when the cap is expected to continue to trend downward for the next few seasons due to the revenue hit the NBA took in 19-20 and is expecting to take in 20-21, the relative risk is easily worth mitigating the financial loss especially for a guy like Bradley who is about to turn 30 and has relatively meager career earnings for a 10 year vet, who then may find himself having to take a vet minimum deal at age 31 as he tries to reestablish himself as an NBA player after a potentially nearly 2 year hiatus.

The players would be fine but what about their immunocompromised relatives/family?

[Vae Victus]

The only way i can see the Lakers being willing to accomodate Bradley opting in and not playing is if they need his contract as salary filler for a deal.

Ideally something like Bradley + McGee + Cook + 28th for Shroeder would be an example of such a deal. Sadly Green was the outgoing contract, so i dont see that avenue available anymore for Bradley.

[Marcus_Shart]

Thank heavens Chandler Parsons isn't under contract because you KNOW he would find a way to get paid without playing.

[azcatz11]

Realistically theirs going to be a vaccine soon and theirs a lot of money on the line. These guys are top notch athletes, president Trump(not making this political) is 74 years old, overweight, is well known to eat a lot of fast-food and recovered from COVID in less then a week.

It would be pretty financially devastating for a player to skip this season when the cap is expected to continue to trend downward for the next few seasons due to the revenue hit the NBA took in 19-20 and is expecting to take in 20-21, the relative risk is easily worth mitigating the financial loss especially for a guy like Bradley who is about to turn 30 and has relatively meager career earnings for a 10 year vet, who then may find himself having to take a vet minimum deal at age 31 as he tries to reestablish himself as an NBA player after a potentially nearly 2 year hiatus.

The players would be fine but what about their immunocompromised relatives/family?

Same thing that happens to everyone else that has to work a regular job? Luckily he is rich and can take much better precautions than 99.9% of the population.

[Lockdown504090]

Realistically theirs going to be a vaccine soon and theirs a lot of money on the line. These guys are top notch athletes, president Trump(not making this political) is 74 years old, overweight, is well known to eat a lot of fast-food and recovered from COVID in less then a week.

It would be pretty financially devastating for a player to skip this season when the cap is expected to continue to trend downward for the next few seasons due to the revenue hit the NBA took in 19-20 and is expecting to take in 20-21, the relative risk is easily worth mitigating the financial loss especially for a guy like Bradley who is about to turn 30 and has relatively meager career earnings for a 10 year vet, who then may find himself having to take a vet minimum deal at age 31 as he tries to reestablish himself as an NBA player after a potentially nearly 2 year hiatus.

I think some nfl players are VERY vulnerable due to the medical treatments they've been receiving and the "supplements" they're taking. Covid-19 is ripping people apart. They couldn't save KAT's mom and the guy makes 8 figures..... if say, that was Jarett Allen's mom, she wouldnt even receive comprable care to that because he hasnt made nearly as much money.

There are a couple things the League and players can do to protect the ones they love.

1. Just stay the hell away from your families and secure the bag till there is a vaccine. Totally reasonable, and can be done responsibly.
2. Dont start travelling until there is a vaccine. I think that would entail missing about 20 or less games at the start of the season.

3. the league needs to extend special covid health care to the families and friends of the players if they arent already. Having guys come over on cheap short term deals and get their families sick would be disasterous.

[Flash4thewin]

Realistically theirs going to be a vaccine soon and theirs a lot of money on the line. These guys are top notch athletes, president Trump(not making this political) is 74 years old, overweight, is well known to eat a lot of fast-food and recovered from COVID in less then a week.

It would be pretty financially devastating for a player to skip this season when the cap is expected to continue to trend downward for the next few seasons due to the revenue hit the NBA took in 19-20 and is expecting to take in 20-21, the relative risk is easily worth mitigating the financial loss especially for a guy like Bradley who is about to turn 30 and has relatively meager career earnings for a 10 year vet, who then may find himself having to take a vet minimum deal at age 31 as he tries to reestablish himself as an NBA player after a potentially nearly 2 year hiatus.

The President got the best medical help the country could offer. He was freaking air lifted in a helicopter and given his own wing in a hospital with doctors just focused on his health. Comparing that to the medical attention even an NBA player gets is ridiculous.

Also the same people who won’t wear a mask are now magically going to take a vaccine?

[chitownsalesmen]

Realistically theirs going to be a vaccine soon and theirs a lot of money on the line. These guys are top notch athletes, president Trump(not making this political) is 74 years old, overweight, is well known to eat a lot of fast-food and recovered from COVID in less then a week.

It would be pretty financially devastating for a player to skip this season when the cap is expected to continue to trend downward for the next few seasons due to the revenue hit the NBA took in 19-20 and is expecting to take in 20-21, the relative risk is easily worth mitigating the financial loss especially for a guy like Bradley who is about to turn 30 and has relatively meager career earnings for a 10 year vet, who then may find himself having to take a vet minimum deal at age 31 as he tries to reestablish himself as an NBA player after a potentially nearly 2 year hiatus.

The players would be fine but what about their immunocompromised relatives/family?

Again theirs a vaccine coming in short order(actually multiple promising vaccines), how much time does he really see his kids/family during the season it would seem to me the best course of action would be to play and take extreme caution with interacting with immunocompromised people, which is something that everyone should be doing regardless.

The financial consequences for a nearly 30 year old(will be 31 by next season if he sits out this season) 6'2 NBA player going almost two years out of the league doesn't bode well for him.

He has a guaranteed 5 million dollars coming to him next season if he plays, right now before any re-negotiation of the current CBA his minimum is 2.5 million which if he plays this season, and preforms even reasonably he'll presumably earn for 21-22 in addition to his 5 million for 20-21, he would be at a minimum giving up 5M, and possibly risk losing even more future earnings as 1. He raises his risk of failing to stick on a roster going forward, due to him getting older/less productive and thus less worthy of a team signing him to a lucrative or multiyear contract 2.The longer he sits out the greater risk he faces of not earning more on any subsequent contracts due to the cap shrinking and teams being more reluctant to spend in general.

The current chatter surrounding Bradley is he changed agents with the conversations focusing on wether he should opt-in to his current 5M deal or opt out and hit FA for a larger/longer deal, I don't think he'd be making changes to his pro-sports representation right now if he was planning on sitting out.

The thing for pro-athletes that differs radically from most traditional career paths is they are exceptionally short, they are also taxed even more heavily then similar income earners in more traditional career paths as they are taxed in every state in which they play, not just the state of their respective team a double whammy for a guy like Bradley who has spent most of his career in higher taxed/higher cost of living states of Massachusetts and California. Pro athletes also have higher costs associated to their career versus most so they can't really "make-up" a year or two of missed wages by working up to a promotion later on, they have to get their money while they can.

All this to say, Avery Bradley is a 30 year old 6'2 NBA player who hasn't made a whole ton of money in NBA terms through out his career compared to say Eric Bledsoe probably his closest comparison in his own draft class who has almost tripled Bradley's career earnings, I'd say Avery Bradley and most players in his situation will play next season due to the potential financial implications not playing could have moving forward.

This just seems like the last vestiges of the people who argued that the NBA was insane to start the season back up and didn't think it was possibly they could finish the season without vast swaths of COVID outbreaks shifting the goal posts one more time to undermine the entire league in some feeble attempt to maintain the moral high-ground of pretending they are just truly concerned about people at greater risk to COVID and act holier then thou, not saying thats you or your intention but none of this real makes much sense given what we know now vs in March/April.

[chitownsalesmen]

Realistically theirs going to be a vaccine soon and theirs a lot of money on the line. These guys are top notch athletes, president Trump(not making this political) is 74 years old, overweight, is well known to eat a lot of fast-food and recovered from COVID in less then a week.

It would be pretty financially devastating for a player to skip this season when the cap is expected to continue to trend downward for the next few seasons due to the revenue hit the NBA took in 19-20 and is expecting to take in 20-21, the relative risk is easily worth mitigating the financial loss especially for a guy like Bradley who is about to turn 30 and has relatively meager career earnings for a 10 year vet, who then may find himself having to take a vet minimum deal at age 31 as he tries to reestablish himself as an NBA player after a potentially nearly 2 year hiatus.

The President got the best medical help the country could offer. He was freaking air lifted in a helicopter and given his own wing in a hospital with doctors just focused on his health. Comparing that to the medical attention even an NBA player gets is ridiculous.

Also the same people who won’t wear a mask are now magically going to take a vaccine?

Refer to the last paragraph of my last post, you are a shining example of what I described, thank you for illustrating my point.

[Harry Garris]

Realistically theirs going to be a vaccine soon and theirs a lot of money on the line. These guys are top notch athletes, president Trump(not making this political) is 74 years old, overweight, is well known to eat a lot of fast-food and recovered from COVID in less then a week.

It would be pretty financially devastating for a player to skip this season when the cap is expected to continue to trend downward for the next few seasons due to the revenue hit the NBA took in 19-20 and is expecting to take in 20-21, the relative risk is easily worth mitigating the financial loss especially for a guy like Bradley who is about to turn 30 and has relatively meager career earnings for a 10 year vet, who then may find himself having to take a vet minimum deal at age 31 as he tries to reestablish himself as an NBA player after a potentially nearly 2 year hiatus.

The players would be fine but what about their immunocompromised relatives/family?

I have immunocompromised relatives but I still have to go into the office to earn a paycheck. I'm sure at least half the people on this site are in similar situations. NBA players will just have to do what, you know, everyone else on the face of the planet has to do. Be careful around their relatives and probably not see them very often.

[lars_rosenberg]

If I were him I'd just try to get the covid right now in a controlled situation and stay isolated until I'm negative. This way he should be immune for a while, until the vaccine is out. The virus mutates, but if you get it you should be ok for a few months at least.

[Dupp]

This season isn’t gonna be as safe as the bubble so it makes sense that someone like AB wouldn’t play.

[bubonicphoniks]

Haha love the random shot at Parsons.

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