PRPG:

6 Weird NBA Contract Stipulations

November 6, 2014

Let’s hope these basketball players read the fine print when they signed up.

Weird NBA ContractsYou better weight

Glen “Big Baby” Davis had trouble keeping his weight down (he’s listed at 289 pounds) and staying in playing shape during his first seasons with the Boston Celtics. In 2009, his new contract contained a clause: If he met weight checkpoints throughout the season, he’d receive a $500,000 bonus. (No word on whether or not he made it.)

Work unethic

In 2009, Los Angeles Clippers star Baron Davis was contractually obligated to receive an extra $1 million if he played in 70 games that season and the team won 30 of them. (That’s like you getting a bonus if you show up for work four days a week and do your job on two of them.) At the end of the 2009-10 season, Davis had played in 75 games, leading the Clippers to a 29-53 record…one win short of a million-dollar payout.

Math is hard

For the 2010-11 season, Matt Bonner of the San Antonio Spurs was promised an additional $100,000 if the combined total of his three-point shooting percentage, free throw shooting percentage, and field-goal shooting percentage added up to 169. His tally at season’s end: 157.

The consummate sportsman

NBA players get paid millions and generate countless millions more for their teams. Most are contractually banned from playing basketball in their spare time out of fear of injury. One player who didn’t have that clause: Michael Jordan. His “love of the game” clause allowed him to play in pick-up games in parks, games on the street, even exhibition games.

Most valuable Nick

Nick Collison is a backup forward and center for the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team he’s been with since entering the league in 2003. Over his career he’s averaged 6.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game—not exactly all-star numbers. But he has a strange contract clause: Should he ever win the NBA Most Valuable Player award, he gets an extra $100,000.

No tradesies

Gone are the days when athletes played their entire careers with one team—there are financial incentives to players and teams to get traded. But some players don’t want to be traded. NBA players can negotiate for a “no trade” clause, giving them trade veto power, provided they’ve been in the league for eight years and played with their current team for at least four of those years. Only four players in the NBA right now meet those requirements: Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, and Kobe Bryant.

For more basketball trivia read Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Sports Spectacular.
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