John Wall has not played at all this season despite being healthy, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes that is a problem for the league.
Silver was asked at his All-Star Game press conference on Saturday about Wall and other players being paid to sit out. He immediately responded “of course I think it’s a problem” and explained why both players and teams should be bothered by the trend.
“There’s a hard line there,” Silver said. “If it truly is by mutual agreement, I’m not sure the league office should be interfering. On the other hand, this goes back to my pay-for-performance point from earlier. … For every dollar that goes to a player who’s not producing on the floor, that’s a dollar less that’s going to a player who is performing. That shouldn’t be ideal for either players or teams. Do I have a ready fix? I’m hoping those are the types of issues we can approach collectively when we sit down with the players.”
Wall is making $44.3 million this season and set to make $47.3 million next season. The Houston Rockets are focused on their young core, so they feel they have no place for Wall. At least two teams would supposedly have interest if Wall and the Rockets reach a buyout agreement, but it doesn’t sound like the two sides are working on one.
Just as Silver doesn’t like players sitting out for “maintenance” reasons, he doesn’t want a healthy player who makes $500,000 per game riding the bench. The issue, as he said, will be finding a way to discourage the practice.
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