Dallas Basketball

NBA Players Will Get Full April 15 Paychecks (And Apparently Need Them)

This Isn't A Story About 'Sympathy,' Just About a COVID-19 Factoid: NBA Star CJ McCollum: Says One-Third of Players Living 'Paycheck to Paycheck' ... And Now An April 15 Payday Update

Mike Fisher

NBA Players Will Get Full April 15 Paychecks (And Apparently Need Them)
NBA Players Will Get Full April 15 Paychecks (And Apparently Need Them) /

DALLAS - This isn't a story about being "sympathetic'' to multi-millionaires. This is, rather, a glance inside the realities of the COVID-19 crisis on commerce in general, and to the NBA player specifically.

That's the point Portland Trailblazers star CJ McCollum is trying to make when he says "150 of 450 NBA players are living paycheck-to-paycheck.''

McCollum wisely noted the number of players in the NBA who aren't yet making (relatively) huge salaries, or who are spending a great deal of money to take care of extended family members, or who failed to properly budget.

An update from Woj, who now reports that the April 15 checks will be in-full and good to go ...

That's fine. (A withholding of payments, though, could kick in starting with May 1 checks.) But that last aforementioned problem - budgeting - issue has long been a problem in pro sports. It looms as an even larger problem going forward given the lost wages of this season, the lowered revenue and its influence on the salary cap in the future and the "force majeure'' clause that is common in contracts - "force majeure'' granting one party (in this case, owners) to not fulfill payment promises in the event of an unforeseen "act of God.''

McCollum, who happens to be the vice president of the Players Association), is among the many NBA figures trying to help their community during the crisis. As we've chronicled often in this space, the Dallas Mavericks are active in that area as well. The idea behind much of Mavs owner Mark Cuban's charitable work over the years, we know, is in part about helping the cause, of course ... but it's also about inspiring the rest of us to give when we can as well.

And NBA players helping themselves?

Athletes (must) "educate (themselves) on financial literacy, what it means to save money, what it means to start portfolios," McCollum recently said.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NBA and the Dallas Mavericks since 1990. He has for more than 20 years served as the overseer of DallasBasketball.com, the granddaddy of Mavs news websites.

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