Report: NBA, NBPA have arrangement for players who don’t want to come back

NBA commissioner Adam Silver. (Tony Dejak/AP)

As the NBA prepares to make its return to play in Orlando at the end of July, a number of star players around the league have expressed concerns about the resumption of the season, for a number of reasons.

Speaking to ESPN’s Mike Greenberg for the network’s ‘The Return of Sports’ special on Monday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver revealed that the league and Players Association have an arrangement in place wherein those players that prefer not to come to the Disney campus in Orlando won’t be in breach of their contracts.

Here were Silver’s full comments on the matter, per the New York Times‘ Sopan Deb.

“I can only say it may not be for everyone. It will entail enormous sacrifice on behalf of those players and for everyone involved — the coaches, the referees. Listen, it’s not an ideal situation. We’re trying to find a way to our own normal in the middle of a pandemic,” Silver said on ESPN.

“…We’re dealing with the Players Association representing 450 guys for 22 teams … and not surprisingly, there’s not a uniform view among those players. My sense is we’re going to be able to work through most of those issues over the next few weeks but as I said, we also have an arrangement with the Players Association where if a player chooses not to come, it’s not a breach of his contract. We accept that.”

Silver also commented on concerns regarding Disney employees going in and out of the quarantine ‘bubble’:

And also on the financial aspect of the NBA’s return-to-play plan:

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