With the NBA on hiatus amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the league plans to pay players their next cheques on April 1 but reportedly haven’t committed yet to payments that would be due on April 15, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Both the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have had ongoing discussions about how payments will be handled during the league’s stoppage in play, Wojnarowski added, with the NBA issuing a memo Friday that informed teams the league intends to provide “additional guidance” regarding the April 15 payment date.
It is not currently clear whether that “additional guidance” would entail a commitment to paying players or starting to withhold a portion of players’ salaries.
Due to a stipulation in the collective bargaining agreement, the NBA is able to withhold 1/92.6 percent of a players’ salary per cancelled game — about one per cent of an annual salary — in extreme circumstances, such as the cancellation of a season.
On March 14, the NBPA reportedly sent a memo to player agents stating that they “fully expect that players will continue to receive salary on their designated paydays.”
NHL players have been told they will receive their remaining three paycheques for the 2019-20 season, according to Sportsnet‘s Chris Johnston.
The NBA enacted an indefinite hiatus as a means of helping to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus on March 12. There is currently no indication when or if play may resume.
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