NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has applauded players for coming forward and talking about their mental health issues, but he himself won't encourage them to take that step, rather leaving it to their own initiative.
Silver knows players could potentially be walking a fine line and risking their future by opening up about their struggles, as the stigma attached to mental health is still very much real.
“If a player were to say to me, ‘Guarantee me this won't have an impact on my [free-agency] signing,' I'm not in a position to say that it won't,” Silver told ESPN's Jackie MacMullan. “It's not an illusion to say there's a stigma attached to this. There are still very real issues around disclosure.”
A few owners even want access to mental health records in order to protect their “investments” — making this potentially even more of a Pandora's box that could include HIPAA violations for disclosure of private medical information and myriad discrimination lawsuits.
Sure, owners could be taking a risk if the player fails to medicate, chooses to not medicate or over-medicates, potentially turning their “investment” into a bust, but that could also have an effect as to who is signed and how much he is signed for during a free-agent situation.
That issue could also extend to potential trade situations and contract stipulations, the same way a history of knee injuries could trigger a bonus line of certain games played per season or total minutes to accrue a fully salary.
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