Making the NBA playoffs is more than chasing a ring, as there are dollars to be made as well. Every team that qualified for the NBA playoffs this season earned an extra $223,864 as a bonus to be divided among the players, which comes out to approximately $16,000 per person.
Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard suggested that he and his teammates instead donated it to the team’s support staff, according to CSNNW.
The day after the Blazers were eliminated from the playoffs with a disappointing sweep at the hands of Golden State, Lillard still had one task to perform: Getting the rest of the team to sign off on donating their playoff checks.This was awesome by Lillard and the rest of the team, and likely greatly appreciated by the Blazers staff.
When a team makes the playoffs, they are awarded a bonus check. This season, any team participating in the first round of the playoffs was given $223,864 to be divided among players. For the Blazers, that is roughly $16,000 per player.
As captain for the past two seasons, Lillard has made it clear to his teammates that their playoff checks should be donated to the Blazers’ support staff, which consists of everybody from massage therapists to the trainers at the practice facility.
Once again this season, with Lillard going from player to player to assure they followed through, the team voted to give up their full shares. The money was divided among 25 support staff, with some getting more than others depending on their role.
“We divide our playoff shares to give to the people who we work so closely with because they spend as much time away from their families as we do, and they are just about as invested as we are,” Lillard said after the season. “They also do as much as possible to make our lives easier, even if it makes theirs more difficult — all while making far less. So it’s a further way of showing appreciation beyond a thank your or a handshake.”
