{"id":1485453,"date":"2022-02-24T21:46:17","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T02:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1485453"},"modified":"2022-02-24T21:46:18","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T02:46:18","slug":"zion-williamson-situation-means-we-need-to-talk-about-the-rookie-contract-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/zion-williamson-situation-means-we-need-to-talk-about-the-rookie-contract-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Zion Williamson Situation Means We Need to Talk About the Rookie Contract Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the early days of the NBA, the concept of a \u201crookie contract\u201d was a foreign one. Several legal challenges and collective bargaining sessions, we\u2019re deep into the era of the rookie scale contract. In many ways, the change is suitable for NBA players<\/a>. But as we\u2019re seeing with the increasingly dysfunctional Zion Williamson<\/a> situation in New Orleans, the current system isn\u2019t without flaws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to understand today\u2019s problems, it\u2019s essential to grasp how we got here. We\u2019ve advanced far beyond the previous setup, even with the warts that pockmark the modern rookie scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It beats pure chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rookie contracts before the rookie scale<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Long
Long before Zion Williamson and the NBA rookie contract scale, the only competition teams had for draft picks were industrial teams like the Phillips 66ers. | Denver Post via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Signing rookies was straightforward for the first 20 years or so of the NBA\u2019s existence. Teams drafted anywhere from 10\u201320 players each year and offered one-year contracts to the ones they wanted. But most rooks got a training camp invitation, a place to sleep, and meals. The agreement came later if they made the cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1950s and into the 1960s, some amateur-in-name-only clubs operated in various industrial leagues. The most notable was the Phillips 66ers. Operated by Philips Petroleum and based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, the 66ers snagged talented collegiate players from under the NBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They got jobs with the company, though their primary duties were to kick butt on the basketball court. But the rise of rival professional leagues like the American Basketball League in 1961 and the American Basketball Association in 1967 eventually drove the industrial teams into the history books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 66ers played their final season in 1967\u201368, according to a 1985 article by Frank Scott of The Oklahoman<\/a>. The new ABA drove player salaries beyond their means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-round draft picks commanded more money and longer contracts because of the competition between the ABA and NBA. When the salary cap era came to the NBA in 1984, the business got more complicated. Before Zion Williamson, there was merely anarchy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The salary cap era brought class warfare to the NBA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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