NBA/NFL CBA Differences Part 1: Player Empowerment and A One-Sided Fear

Over the past few years, an issue has come to light in the NBA: star NBA players are demanding trades from their teams. While in the NFL, a separate, yet similar issue has existed for a longer period of time: star NFL players are holding out from their teams. Two common threads hold these issues together: 1) Players who holdout or demand trades are doing so while under contract with their team; 2) Players who holdout or demand trades are attempting to empower themselves against their team owners and their league. But the difference in these issues stems from the motivations behind each act and the reasons for these motivations.

NBA stars demand trades because their current team is not good enough to win a championship. Money is not the driving force behind trade demands. But NFL players holdout because they either want to get paid their worth or fear they will not get paid their worth in the future. The reason money is not a huge issue for star NBA players and a major issue for the best NFL players brings us to the Collective Bargaining Agreements for each league.

A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a contract between an employer and a union representing the employees. These CBA’s set out the parameters for how each league is run and explain the reason why money, or a lack there of, motivates holdouts and not trade demands. Over the next couple weeks, I’ll break this series down in three parts:

1. Very quick background on the NBA player empowerment era and NFL holdouts.

2. CBA financial differences.

3. CBA non-financial differences.

Player Empowerment

On July 8, 2010, the NBA’s player empowerment era was born. The former Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James was a free agent fresh off a playoff loss to the Boston Celtics. As weeks went by after the loss, teams lined up at LeBron’s door hoping for a meeting with The Chosen One. Once the fog cleared, three teams emerged from the pack: Chicago, Cleveland, and Miami. James decided to announce his choice on During 75 minutes of bad tv called, The Decision, he infamously said, “This fall, I'm gonna take my talents to south beach and join the Miami Heat.” Arguably the biggest free agent in NBA history made an unprecedented decision joining superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

While the idea of the super team and dynasties are not new, Jordan’s Bulls, Bird’s Celtics, the showtime Lakers are just a few, free agent superstars on different teams had never willingly joined forces until LeBron, Wade, and Bosh did in 2010. Since then, more superstars have taken power in their own hands in 2 ways: 1) Star players join forces through free agency; 2) Players under contract demand trades from their team. Trade demands were common in the past (Scottie Pippen says hello), but we haven't seen anything like the volume of trade demands from high profile players in just a few seasons.

Star athletes are arguably the most valuable commodities in sports. In my opinion, if you’re a top 20 player in the NBA, you’re a star player. Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and Kawhi Leonard are stars, with Davis and Leonard widely regarded as top 5 (or top 10 at worst) players and genuine superstars. Yet all requested trades.

It's one thing to demand trades; it's another for them to go through. All of them went through. Teams would rather trade their star player for something in return, than get nothing if he leaves in free agency. Whether all these trade demands are good for the NBA is for a different post. But this is the NBA’s reality. NBA players know their value to a team and use this knowledge to get what they want.

A One-Sided Fear

While we've seen a recent influx in NFL trade requests, most NFL stars take power in their own hands by holding out in hopes for a bigger payday from their current team or a different one. Le’Veon Bell, Earl Thomas, Melvin Gordon, Jadeveon Clowney, Khalil Mack, and Ezekiel Elliott are just a few.

But holdouts are nothing new. Emmitt Smith, Bo Jackson, Darrelle Revis, and Eric Dickerson have done the same thing. They either didn’t report to their teams before the season started or sat out regular season games in hopes of receiving the money they deserved. Each player feared they wouldn’t get paid proportionately to their value, which brings us to my main point.

There is no comparison between high profile trade requests in the NBA and the NFL. But what is comparable is the amount of trade demands in the NBA to holdouts in the NFL and the reasons behind them. NBA stars demand trades because they want to win championships. NFL stars holdout in fear of not being paid properly. This fear lingers in the minds of the best NFL athletes, yet not for the best NBA players. My next few posts will explain why by breaking down the structure of each leagues’ CBA.