NBA’s best young players, including Los Angeles Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma, Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell, and Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, have reportedly joined forces in recent days in an attempt to negotiate injury insurance from the league ahead of the 2019/20 season resume.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Kuzma, Mitchell, and Tatum, alongside Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo and Sacramento Kings’ De’Aaron Fox, asked the NBA Players Association officials to reach out to the league and explore the possibility of an NBA-financed insurance policy that would protect them from a career-threatening injury. All of the previously mentioned players belong to the 2017 draft class and are eligible for massive rookie extensions.
Kuzma, Mitchell, Tatum, Adebayo, and Fox have based their request on the risks that players are facing ahead of the NBA season restart at Disneyworld in Orlando. This includes a prolonged period of inactivity, short training camps, possible intensified scheduled, and an overall health risk due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Reportedly, the league and the NBPA are already discussing ways the players would get protection in case of serious coronavirus-related illness or a career-threatening injury.
