Golden State’s Kerr would take pay cut for shorter NBA schedule
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has a novel idea about the whole NBA rest issue: He’d be willing to take a pay cut in exchange for a shorter regularseason schedule.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to it, even at the expense to my own salary, but it’s something that everyone would have to agree to,” Kerr said, via ESPN Tuesday night. “I think even just going down to 75 games, I think that would make a dramatic difference in schedule. Now I don’t see that happening because there is money at stake for everybody.
“I do think this can be remedied though — maybe not remedied — but I think it can be dramatically helped with what the league is already working on for next year and the consideration of geographies when it comes to the schedule.”
Here’s the thing: Kerr might have some trouble getting nearly everyone else in the league to sign on to his plan.
Kerr makes US$5 million per year as the Warriors coach. Based on the back-of-the-envelope math I just did, he’d probably still get by if the NBA shaved seven games’ worth of pay off his schedule. So could everyone else, probably. That doesn’t mean they’d agree to do it, though. Still, there’s nothing stopping the league from cutting down on the regular season: The most recently signed collective bargaining agreement only mandates that the regular season be no longer than 82 games. It doesn’t say anything about it being less.
The issue of resting players is all the rage these days after the Cleveland Cavaliers sat out their top stars in consecutive Saturday night games.
Commissioner Adam Silver said in a memo to owners this week the topic will be discussed at the next board of governors meeting and warned of “significant penalties” for teams that fail to comply with NBA rules regarding advanced notice of resting players. But NBA coaches and personnel executives argue resting players is the only way for teams to make it through the grind of the 82-game regular season.
Cutting that number down to, say, 75 games would be perhaps the most drastic yet easiest way to solve the problem. Good luck getting everyone to agree with it.