The NBPA's announcement that it will take an "unprecedented step" to provide health insurance for retired players who spent at least three years in the league is being very well-received by its intended targets, according to Frank Isola of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Former NBAer John Wallace called the deal "awesome" and said NBPA Exec Dir Michele Roberts "really makes life easier for all retired players." Former NBAer Charles Oakley said, "This is something that should have happened a long time ago. We should have done this in the ’70s and ’80s to take care of the players that came before us.” Former NBAer Rick Mahorn: "You receive the best health care in the world when you’re playing but you don’t start feeling the aches and pains until you get older. A program like this just doesn’t help the superstars, it helps the masses.” He added, "The union is investing in their own future because eventually they will all be retired players and a lot of them will need health insurance. This is something every league should be looking into" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/29).
EVERYBODY WANTS SOME: ESPN's Marcellus Wiley said of the NBPA's new plan, "What it makes me reflect on is how convoluted and how cloudy our NFL coverage is" (“SportsNation,” ESPN, 7/28). ESPN’s Dan Le Batard said, “The NFL is the most popular and most profitable sport and should be doing something like this for its players, but once again ... the NFL should look at what the NBA is doing and (say) we need to do some of this here.” ESPN’s Bomani Jones: “The NBA players’ union will be paying for the health insurance, and what NFL players should feel about that is NBA players make enough money where they can break off some bread for the retired players because NFL players they need that money for their own medical bills in most cases, not to be putting them toward a fund for someone else. That's what we got here, the guys who make a whole lot more money can do things like this” (“Highly Questionable,” ESPN, 7/28).
