The NBA is one of the most lucrative professional sports leagues in the world. This side of the league is often highlighted in discussions. However, a harsh reality of the league, which is often overlooked, or not mentioned at all was recently outlined by Andre Iguodala and Carmelo Anthony. The Warriors’ legend was recently on Melo’s 7PM in Brooklyn podcast where he talked about Klay Thomson and stated how the league turns ugly to players the moment they initiate contract negotiations with their teams.
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The two veterans of the game have been through it all in their time, so they know exactly how the league works behind closed doors. Iguodala said that there are a lot of promises made by teams, while they don’t have any intention of keeping. He said,
“I’m coming in early morning every day. You’ve seen me putting this work… Keep working… We’re gonna do this together…’ As soon as the negotiations come around, ‘You’re not good at this, and for a max guy, we need a guy that got everything.”
Iguodala then mentioned Klay Thompson as an example of someone who is facing the same things right now. He said, “Klay is going through it with the Warriors right now. It can happen to everybody.” Carmelo said that nobody is safe from this age-old practice, and everybody can become a target, especially since the man who helped bring four championships to the Warriors has become an example of it.
The 10x NBA All-Star added that in that situation, the players can’t even clarify anything to their fans because there’s a lot of secrecy involved in it. As a result, the fans automatically assume the worst and jump to the conclusion that the player must be the one who is wrong. In cases when the fans inevitably end up taking the club’s side, the players appear to be “another disgruntled athlete.” Iggy added that what the fans fail to notice is it’s rarely about the money.
The 40-year-old said that if an organization can pay $270 million to one player, one can’t even imagine the kind of money that they have for themselves. When asked by Kid Mero if the players don’t speak up in fear of legal issues or if there’s something else to it, Iguodala said that it has more to do with a lack of knowledge. However, he seems to have a solution for it as the Executive Director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).
Iguodala said that he wants to bring Melo in on the plan as well because he has a lot of influence on the young generation and the youngsters want to be like him. He said that he plans to educate the young generation about how the business works and what are the ups and downs of the same. Once they get a grasp of the functioning of this system, they will be able to navigate it better.
