While I was on vacation last week, news came that the National Basketball Players Association had agreed to fund a health insurance plan for all former players who had played at least three years in the league.
The decision addressed what has been a very difficult issue for both the union and the league for decades, and is especially resonant today; current players have just experienced the most financially lucrative month in the history of the game. The cap expert Albert Nahmad estimated through mid-July that the first 120 players in free agency this summer had received more than $1 billion in new contracts for the 2016-17 NBA season, and $3.4 billion total.
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That kind of largesse begged for some kind of social action, which the NBPA addressed with a unanimous vote of its player representatives.
The new program, established through UnitedHealthcare, will offer new plans with medical, hospital and prescription drug coverage for retired players with between three and six years of NBA service time, but who are not yet eligible for Medicare.
The new plans will have what the union calls "modest" out of pocket costs for players for deductibles and co-pays. Players with between seven and nine years of service will be offered similar coverage with lower out-of-pocket costs. Retired players with 10 or more years of service time would be able to cover their entire families.
Retired players with three to nine years of service that are eligible for Medicare will be offered $0 deductibles and co-pay plan, with a low-cost prescription drug plan. Retired players with 10 or more years of service will get this coverage for themselves and their spouse.
The open enrollment plan will begin this fall and coverage will begin Jan. 1, 2017.
The plan will address at least some of the myriad financial difficulties many former players face. The list of bankruptcies and business failures that many of the league's former players have experienced is well-documented. But many others live within their means, and still experience great difficulty making ends meet after their careers end. The plight of players who played well before the league's explosion in popularity in the 1980s and '90s is especially poignant.More than one ex-player wound up driving cabs for a living. The players who played before the establishment of the NBPA in 1964 had an especially difficult time. The late Bill Tosheff worked tirelessly until his death trying to get more benefits for the players who played three or more years before 1965.
Now, some of those players, and many others, are going to get at least some help. And they are grateful.
Former Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton played 11 seasons (1982-93) for the Jazz, making an All-Star team in 1989 and was twice named Defensive Player of the Year ('85, '89). The 7-foot-4 Eaton is the team's all-time leader in blocked shots (3,064, 4th all-time in NBA), is second in rebounds (6,939) and is third in games and minutes played.
A past president of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, Eaton is now a motivational speaker, with an emphasis on teamwork.
Etan Thomas played nine NBA seasons, mostly for the Washington Wizards, and has established a post-playing career as an author, public speaker and radio talk show host. Thomas missed a season after undergoing open heart surgery in 2007 to correct a torn aortic valve.
Both men wrote as Guest Morning Tippers this week about what the new NBPA program will mean for former players.
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