Why officially retire?

[fam3381]

Hey guys, here's a simple question that I can't really figure out...what is the technical benefit of a player officially retiring? Obviously in many cases a guy's Bird rights (if he's out of contract) will get renounced so he won't have the option of getting a deal like KVH just did, but I'm curious what benefit a player gets from handing in retirement papers. Looking at the CBA it doesn't seem like a player's pension is affected by not officially retiring in the short term. What obvious thing am I missing?

[bgwizarfan]

^ well there's always that pension... so you could be 55 and instead of receiving a pension for 20 years, still holding out hope that a team sign and trades you...

[Dunkenstein]

Very few players who have Bird rights actually retire officially. Most of the officially retired players were either waived or renounced by their last team.

[LarryCoon]

Also, I was told they can start drawing their pension (a reduced amount of it, anyway) at 45. For that, you need to file paperwork. I doubt anybody over 45 (and definitely 50, when they're eligible for the full amount) wouldn't have filed.

[fam3381]

Thanks guys.