The new NBA media deals have changed how players think about their careers and their bodies.
Knicks swingman Josh Hart wanted to have some energy left when he leaves basketball behind. But now that the league’s new $76 billion media-rights deals are set to send salaries skyrocketing, he’s ready to collect every dollar.
“I wanted to retire at like 34, maybe 35, so I’d still got a bit of juice left,” Hart told Front Office Sports Today. “But then I saw [the TV deal], and I was like, you know what? I’m gonna play until my knees fall off.” (Hart is 29 and has appeared in 453 games over seven NBA seasons.)
Hart and Brunson taped the FOS Today episode before Friday’s news broke that Brunson was giving the Knicks a $100 million discount—money he could make back in the long term as the salary cap explodes.
Like Hart, his Villanova teammate and Roommates Show cohost Brunson is still interested in what owners will do with their newly full pockets.
“I think it will put a wrinkle in everything,” Brunson said of the new media deals. “It’s something I’m slowly starting to understand. … It will be very interesting to see what happens going forward, what front offices want to make decisions on, what they are willing to spend, and what they are willing to not spend.”
After the interview was recorded, their boss, Knicks owner James Dolan, wrote a letter to other NBA owners blasting the league’s handling of its media-rights negotiations.
Brunson and Hart spoke about the league’s money rush, why they decided to start a podcast, the NBA’s in-season tournament, and much more on FOS Today, which you can listen to here.