This question is going to sound odd and slightly illegal outside the world of sports, but I think we can agree that sports is it’s own domain.
Usually, if you get hurt at your job, there are laws that protect you, worker’s comp to pay you, and you can’t be fired while on medical leave. But in most jobs (and I’m referring to mostly blue and white collar jobs where you have a desk and an office) you’re not expected to get hurt while doing it
In sports, it’s almost assumed that you will get hurt in the course of your job. Almost no player who plays for a significant amount of time escapes the injury bug. Whether that’s a big freak injury like a torn ACL or a small chronic injury like a sore back, people get hurt and they are often expected by both management and fans to play through the pain if possible
So given that sports is different, is it legal to have a contract with a player that says the team won’t pay him if he gets injured, or pay him a reduced salaray?(nevermind whether a player would actually sign such a thing, I just want to know if it’s legal)
I know there are some exceptions already. Players who are deemed medically unable to play can have (at least in the NBA example that I know of) some of their salary reimbursed to the team. I don’t know if that NBA pays the team, or the player just gives it up. Also, if a player retires, I know the salary is forfeit and teams don’t have it counted against their salary caps, in the NBA at least. Also, some players have contracts which states they can’t do risky things on their own time (some guy in Chicago, I think, injured himself on a motorcycle a few years ago and when the team found out, his salary took a hit)
But to take an example like Tracy McGrady, who hasn’t played more than a handful of games in the past few years, who fans suspect of going on medical leave last season simply so he doesn’t have to play off the bench, can teams have a contract with a player that says, to some degree, that if they get injured and don’t play, they don’t get paid?
Tons of big names and little names are sitting on the bench injured every season. That’s tens of millions of wasted dollars. If teams can have some kind of insurance against that, it may work out in some ways better for the team, the players, and the league.
I’m thinking of guys like the Utah Jazz’s Carlos Boozer. He’s a decent power forward in a conference that requires size and muscle, and could be a good 2nd scoring option on a contending team. However, he’s a free agent this year and there’s been talk about him being injury proned.
If the medical rules I propose go into effect, then teams won’t have to worry as much about wasting money on him in case he gets hurt. Boozer might end up with a bigger contract because of this, and if he stays healthy, earn more than if teams simply aren’t willing to take a chance on him with a big contract. Lots of guys in the NBA have reputations of being injured all the time like McGrady, and Oden who still hasn’t lived up to his #1 status because of injuries. Imagine if the next team they sign with signs them because they could be great with no fear of their injury history. That works out great for the players and teams
Maybe there’s some small possibility that guys would play too safely, that they won’t go for the high risk, high reward. I don’t think that would play nearly as much in their minds as playing hard and earning a better contract would. I won’t discount it, but I don’t think it would happen. Anyway, what do you guys think?