There has been a lot of speculation regarding what’s about to happen in the Orlando bubble, as there’s a coalition of players that are urging his colleagues to take a stand and boycott the resumption of the season.
But with LeBron James outlining those players that do want to resume the season, there are many others likely to follow his steps and show up to Disney World to try and win an NBA Championship.
However, the league has reassured again that those who choose to sit out for the remainder of the campaign won’t be further disciplined or fined. Still, they would miss 1/92.6 of their salary for each game they miss, according to a memo cited by Yahoo! Sports:
“It is critical that every player understand that he has the right to choose not to return to play. Any player who exercises this right will not be disciplined. To respect the decision of those who do return to play, it has been agreed that any player who chooses not to participate will have his compensation reduced by 1/92.6 for each game missed up to a cap of 14 games, even if his team plays more than 14 games in Orlando.
“There will be no other reductions of pay assessed (e.g., fines for missed practices) for a player’s decision not to return to play. Any player that wishes to exercise this right should notify his team of this election by June 24,” the memo read.
Every single one of the 22 teams invited to the bubble will play at least 8 regular-season games before the start of the playoffs but players could miss up to 14 games in total. That means players who miss eight games will see a salary reduction of 8.6%, while those who miss 14 games will suffer a 15.1% reduction.
There will also be protected players whose salary won’t be affected in case their teams decide they’re at risk of contracting COVID-19. If the team decides not to grant said player that distinction, he could ask the league to be an ‘excused’ player and being evaluated by three medical experts to determine whether he can be excused – and thus not face salary reductions – or not.
The league also claimed that those players from the 8 teams that didn’t make the cut won’t face further salary reductions whatsoever from what was already agreed upon after the shutdown of the season.
