The NBA and the NBPA announced that they have agreed on a new CBA deal for 2023 to 2029. Let's look at some of the rumored changes.
Gerard Angelo Samillano
Apr 1, 2023 at 11:33 AM ET
Rejoice, basketball fans! The NBA and the NBPA have officially agreed to terms on a new CBA deal for 2023 'till 2029. The period of CBA negotiation is always a worrying time for fans. After all, if both sides are not able to agree on a deal in time, the next season could potentially be in jeopardy. The most extreme case is the 2012 lockout, where the regular season was essentially slashed in half.
While it's not guaranteed yet, this new agreed-upon CBA between the NBA and the NBPA could signal a quick process for a deal to be ratified. Already, we've seen some rumors about potential additions to the regulations of the league. Let's take a look at some of the notable changes we could see in the future.
In a nutshell, a collective bargaining agreement (or CBA for short) is a document that forms the backbone of a sports league. It contains all of the rules for contracts in the NBA, rules and regulations for player conduct, and limitations on how much a team can spend, among others. It is the single most important document in a league, and it's no surprise that the player union and the league work hard to ensure that their parties get a fair deal.
This is a rather interesting change that has the potential to impact player's contract. Discussions about award winners over the last few years have gotten more and more… engaging, so to speak. A common problem that some debaters run into is the injury talk: how many missed games can a player have before he's “ineligible” for the award? Well, the new NBA CBA will likely put a hard cap.
Both Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Reynolds reported that there will be a new 65-game limit for potential NBA award winners. How does this impact player income? Well, players often have incentives built into their contracts for hitting certain milestones (All-NBA, All-Defense, and all the individual awards). If a player wants to get those bonuses, they need to hit that limit.
One of Adam Silver's biggest proposals is the addition of an In-Season Tournament in the NBA, and it seems that this will be official in the new CBA. It is similar to the WNBA's Commissioner's Cup, where a small “tournament” is held during the middle of the year. The NBA will adopt a similar format, but with more teams included (instead of a winner-take-all final, an eight-team knockout will be done).
Essentially, teams will play “Cup games” that count toward a separate leaderboard. The results of these games will also count towards the regular season regular. The teams with the best record in these “Cup games” will duke it out in a knockout playoff, while the 22 other teams won't participate. It's an interesting concept, but the execution could lead to some… less than ideal circumstances if done wrong. We'll see if the NBA can stick the landing with this new tournament.
With weed being much more accepted in a lot of states today, the NBA has decided to officially remove marijuana from the prohibited drugs list. More specifically, it's been taken off the list of drugs to be tested in NBA players. Marijuana has slowly been decriminalized in many states, and the new NBA CBA is adjusting to these new rules, it seems.
