Do NBA players get paid when suspended? Exploring consequences in wake of Draymond Green’s suspension

Last week, the NBA suspended Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green for five games without pay for an on-court altercation in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Here, let's take a look at the consequences of suspensions in the league and whether Green will continue to get paid.

Suspended NBA players continue to get paid while they are away from their teams. In addition to the player being temporarily excluded from participating in games and all team activities, they also face various financial penalties. NBA players get reduced pay when suspended which is subject to the suspension period

The suspended player loses 1/145th of their salary per game for suspensions less than 20 games Green's suspension will cost him a total of $769,704 in forfeited salary.

Exploring how Suspensions affect teams and NBA player salaries

Another NBA player under suspension is Ja Morant. How does his suspension affect his bottom line and his team? Morant has a five-year contract extension with the Memphis Grizzlies worth $193 million. The amount goes up to $231 million if he is selected to an All-NBA team.

Morant's contract takes up a sizable 25% of the Grizzlies’ salary cap space.

According to NBC Sports, the recent Collective Bargaining Agreement details that although suspended players continue to get paid there are ensuing penalties. NBA players suspended for fewer than 20 games will lose 0.7% (1/145th) of their expected salaries. Players suspended for 20 games or more lose 0.9% (1/110th).

Ja Morant is going to lose approximately $304,000 per game during the time that he is away from the Memphis Grizzlies. This rounds out to $7,600,000 subtracted from his $32 million salary. He will get paid a substantial amount of his salary but he will also take a sizable hit.

The question then arises: where does the docked money go to? If a player gets suspended by the league office, the team does not pay the NBA the money that the player would have earned during the suspension.

The team instead loses the corresponding amount of salary cap space, as only 50% of the lost salary is counted towards the team’s salary cap.

NBA players are paid but they do not receive their full pay during a suspension, whether the suspension was imposed by the player's team or by the league. These reductions resulting from suspensions are of vital importance as they serve as a means to maintain the NBA’s contracts and regulations.