Clippings: NBA players reportedly on the hook for financial losses

The NBA’s players will be paid in full next week on their scheduled payday, but according to a report from ESPN, players are expected to give up a portion of their pay moving forward as a result of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NBPA.

Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst reported Thursday that because the current CBA includes revenue sharing for the players, a portion of the players’ paychecks may be redirected to an escrow account to help weather the financial losses incurred as a result of the current coronavirus pandemic shutting down the league. In other words, because players get a piece of the pie in revenue sharing, the expectation now is that they also have to give something up, as a condition of the CBA, in exchange now that the NBA is projecting to lose up to $1 billion.

Furthermore, the report indicates the players’ hands may be tied because whether this arrangement comes together or not, the league could opt to void the CBA altogether (the nuclear option), or exercise a “force majeure” clause to cancel the rest of the season (not quite nuclear but pretty close), which would potentially mean players won’t get paid at all.

While players are by and large millionaires and many fans won’t feel sorry for them losing a portion of their paychecks, they’re also the most essential workers in the entire enterprise. Additionally, one has to expect the NBPA probably did not imagine a scenario where they would have to shoulder financial losses as part of the revenue sharing agreement. Stay tuned on how it all plays out.

More news for this Friday:

• Clips roll in NBA 2K tournament: Patrick Beverley beat Andre Drummond, and Montrezl Harrell downed Derrick Jones, Jr. to make it two Clippers in the semifinals. They won’t meet in the final four, so if both advance, it would be in the final. But first things first!
• Handicapping HORSE contest: No current Clippers are in the upcoming HORSE tournament, taking place between eight current and former NBA and WNBA players. But Chris Paul is there, and he’s taking on WNBA sharpshooter Allie Quigley, with SB Nation giving her the ultimate edge in that matchup (and beyond). The tourney kicks off on Sunday on ESPN.
• When the call was made: The Athletic has a good feature on the backstory to call NBA games after Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus, which of course led to a domino effect in basically all other sports.
• Can sports return in a “biodome”? Various proposals and mooted possibilities posit that sports in closed conditions — a biodome scenario — can allow them to return early while we wait for the rest of the world to return to normal. Rodger Sherman makes a great case in The Ringer that this all sounds mighty fanciful.

Today’s question: What are you listening to today? Give me something to listen to on this rainy Friday.