A group of young NBA stars met with National Basketball Players’ Association leaders on Friday to discuss “the possibility of league-financed insurance policies to protect against career-threatening injuries” if the NBA resumes play later this summer in Orlando, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings), Kyle Kuzma (Los Angeles Lakers), Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics) were on the call with NBPA executive director Michele Roberts and senior counsel Ron Klempner. All five players, who are members of the 2017 draft class, are eligible to sign contract extensions when the league’s free agency period opens in October and could be in line for significant raises.
Returning from a four-month layoff to play before being able to sign those contracts, however, presents an injury risk the players want the NBA to be prepared for.
“Together, Adebayo, Fox, Kuzma, Mitchell and Tatum have hoped the collective voice of such a starry group of elite young talent could shape the league’s thinking on sharing in the risk on insurance not only for them, but a broader swath of players returning to the season’s restart in Orlando,” sources told Wojnarowski.
The NBA shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11 and is currently targeting a resumption of play at the end of July, with 22 teams in Orlando. Each of the returning teams would play eight games to finalize the regular season standings, followed by four rounds of playoffs that would run into October.
However, Wojnarowski reported on Wednesday that there is a growing number of players who are second-guessing the plan. On Friday, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving reportedly led a call with over 80 players from the NBA and WNBA to create a unified front among players.
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