Probably a stupid question on BRI

finestrg

Rotation player
You think I would've known everything there was to know about BRI by now, being a huge fan of the sport, but truth-be-told, I only learned about it after the lockout took place.. I want to know exactly how the players and owners are using/distributing the BRI, specifically the players.

In another thread Oldtimer mentioned that "in the 2009-10 season the total BRI was $3.643 billion and the players' 57% share was $2,076 billion. In the 2010-11 season the respective numbers were $3.817 billion in BRI and $2.176 billion in players' share." OK (and thanks Oldtimer for posting that btw), now for the players, how is their share coming to them?? For instance, that 2010-2011 BRI number for the players ($2.176 billion) --- does that get divided at the end of the year by 450 players and then distributed evenly? Does Landry Fields get the same BRI amount as star players like Melo & STAT?? Do the players even see all this money directly? I guess they do, a major portion of it at least, but how much? Does the players union withhold any of it? I mean if you divide a round figure of 2 billion by 450 players it works out to more than $4.4 million dollars per player. Did every player in the league receive a check for over $4.4 million bucks last year in addition to their salaries?? If they did, man, I must've be living on a desert island or something because I had no idea each player got that kind of kicker...And the owners would get even more, even at a lesser overall percentage -- there's only 30 owners compared to 450 players.

So where is all this BRI money going? How do the players get their cut? Evenly distributed throughout the year in multiple checks? One lump sum check at the end of the year?? Just curious, I really have no idea how it works..
 
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Oldtimer

Rotation player
the BRI

I once went to the CBA to try to determine how the BRI was figured. I gave up. It was extremely complicated. However, it is my understanding that the owners hold back 8 % of each player's salary and do not disburse it unless the total salaries are equal to or less than the players' share of the BRI.

If we assume for the sake of analysis that the hold back and the salaries paid add precisely up to the players' BRI share -- an unlikely assumption -- then each player from whom 8% was withheld will get his remaining 8%. Thus the players involved will be all those players who had a salary from which 8% had been held in escrow.

On the other hand, if we assume that the players' share of the BRI is less than 100% of their combined salaries, then I trust the owners will only return a pro rata share of the 8% withheld so that the total amount paid is the equivalent of the players' BRI share. Fortunately for the owners, I believe that under the previous CBA the players never owed more than the hold back or even any of the hold back.

If the players' share of the BRI exceeds 100% of the combined salaries for all of the players, then I "assume" the owners will pay the difference pro rata to each of the players. Thus a player whose salary was $10M will get a "BRI bonus" that is twice what a player with a $5M contract would get. I have no idea how the owners divide the overage.

I tried to find out what the total of the salaries for all players was for 2010-11. My source was wikipedia, so take it for what it is worth. But, I added up from that site a total 2010-11 "salary" for the players of approximately $1.954 billion. But the players' share of BRI for that season has been reported as $2.176 billion. The difference is $222M. I trust the players' got their bonuses, but I recall that early in the negotiations the owners wanted to keep all the hold back and pay no "bonus.".

I am making assumptions here, and I can not state as fact that the old CBA required the owners to give back to the players the difference between total salaries and BRI share. It may have been one sided, i.e., that the players got their full salaries as long as the total did not exceed BRI share, but otherwise just got their salaries. If the latter is the case,then the BRI percentage split is even more important.

When I get some time, I might try to determine what the old CBA said about this.
 
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finestrg

Rotation player
A tad complicated but very interesting..Hey thanks for the knowledge and for responding. Appreciate it my man.
:thumbsup:
 
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