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Bam Adebayo, De’Aaron Fox, Kyle Kuzma, Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum reportedly talked with executive director Michele Roberts and senior counsel Ron Klempner about the NBPA possibly facilitating talks with the NBA on possible insurance allowances for players, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The five youngsters are all eligible for rookie extensions whenever the 2020 offseason period officially begins. There is an increased risk of injury for players at Walt Disney World since they haven’t been able to train based on a three month-plus NBA shutdown and a shortened training camp due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Wojnarowski:
“The NBPA and NBA have engaged on the possibility of protections for players in the event of serious COVID-19 illnesses or career-threatening injuries suffered in Orlando, sources told ESPN. The union and league are still negotiating details on the revised terms to the collective bargaining agreement before the 22-team restart.”
Insurance policies for the five players could cost in the range of $500,000.
However, it could be difficult to prove that an injury affected future NBA earnings unless it was career-ending.
Twenty-two NBA teams are scheduled to partake in the resumption of the 2019-20 season in Orlando, Florida, though nothing is certain as some players are hesitant to play due to COVID-19, their desire to continue to work against racial injustices in America and the fact that their families can’t come to central Florida with them.
Mitchell was one of the players in the NBA who contracted COVID-19. His teammate, Rudy Gobert, was the first NBA player to get the coronavirus.
The NBA suspended the 2019-20 season in March right after Gobert’s positive test result was leaked.