© Petre Thomas/Imagn
Audio By Carbonatix
Los Angeles Lakers center Jarred Vanderbilt is currently in the first of a four-year, $48 million contract. But that didn’t stop Vanderbilt, as well as several other NBA players, from filing to collect on a $2.8 billion House settlement agreed to by the NCAA for all Division I athletes from 2016 to 2024. As Vanderbilt puts it, it’s not amount the money. It’s a matter of “principle.”
Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports reports that Vanderbilt is one of several NBA stars to join the suit after the NBA Players Association advised them to do so back in January.
“I got an email, so I checked my email, and once I found out, I told some of the guys in the locker room to check their email to see if they were eligible for it,” Vanderbilt told Schiffer.
The payouts, meanwhile, come with a caveat. Neither Vanderbilt nor any recipient will receive a lump sum. Instead, payouts will come in installment over the course of 10 years. And as Schiffer reports, none of those installments are likely to exceed a single game check for Vanderbilt under his current contract. But as Vanderbilt puts it, he’s not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“It takes two minutes to do it,” Vanderbilt tells FOS. “And that’s a lot of money. I don’t care how much money you make. That’s still a lot of money. Especially when all you have to do is fill out a little form. And I feel like I earned that money as well.”
Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Johnson, who is in year two of a four-year, $94 million deal, says he’s not concerned with public perception because he and every other NBA player earned the payouts, which are expected to be between $100,000 and $120,000.
“It’s not free,” Johnson said. “We worked for it.”
Similarly, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo, who helped Villanova to a pair of national titles, says he and his teammates produced surplus value for the school.
“I think we made the team and school more money than $100,000,” DiVincenzo said. “It’s more of a hassle to try and get more, but yeah we earned it.”
Public perception may not agree. But the U.S. courts system does. And ultimately, that’s all that matters in this case.