Like NBA players, the league’s coaches will benefit financially from their progress in the new season tournament, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to Wojnarowski, the head coach of the team that wins the season’s tournament will receive a bonus of $500,000, which is equivalent to the amount each player on the winning team will earn.
Head coaches, like players, will also earn bonuses if they are a tournament quarterfinalist ($50,000), semifinalist ($100,000) or finalist ($200,000), according to Wojnarowski.
The assistant coaches of the eight final teams will share a prize pool which will represent 75% of the head coach’s bonus, adds Wojnarowski. If I understand Woj’s wording correctly, this means that the in-season tournament champion’s assistants would share $375,000 in bonuses.
Season tournament prize money for players was collectively negotiated between the NBA and NBPA as part of the league’s new CBA, but bonuses for coaches were not part of that agreement. According to Wojnarowski, a coaching leadership group met with the commissioner Adam Silver in September to discuss the possibility of adding financial incentives for coaches, and the two sides ultimately agreed on that bonus structure.
Friday is the first day of group play for the first tournament of the season in NBA history. As the the event program shows14 teams will face off today in round-robin games, with the Knicks against Bucks, Nonconformists Vs. Nuggets and Warriors against Thunder among the flagship clashes.
