collective bargaining agreement Archives - Marketplace

The NBA has become a game of business regulations

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry

Mar 7, 2025

The league's labor agreement has put a lot of red tape around how much players can get paid, leading to a tangled net of trades.

When Luka Dončić was traded from the Mavericks to the Lakers, regulations were a big reason. "There's all these penalties for spending the amount of money that they felt they were gonna have to spend to retain him," said journalist Jordan Sargent.

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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