Further reading:
A 3-minute analysis of the NBA’s two-way contract FAQs
Quickly explain the NBA's Bird Right. The four key points of the Bird Clause are analyzed at once.
What are NBA 38-year-old terms/specifications?
According to the terms reached in the labor negotiations, if a player is over 38 years old, or turns 38 during the new contract period, then this term will be triggered, and the team cannot directly give the player a contract of 4 years or more. This clause was originally set at 35 years old in the 1995 labor negotiations, but was later changed to 36 years old.
In 2016, the age limit was raised to 38 years old after a joint proposal by then-NBPA President Chris Paul and Vice-President LeBron James.
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LeBron James is the sponsor of the 38-year-old clause and the first player to trigger it
LeBron James will turn 38 on December 30, 2022, so he triggers the 38-year-old clause and cannot sign a contract of four years or more. LeBron and the Lakers reached a two-year, $97.1 million contract in August 2022.
Only bird rights can circumvent the 38-year-old clause
The only way to avoid the 38-year-old clause is if the player already owns the bird rights and is under 36 years old before October 1 of that year. As long as the team does not release the bird rights, he can sign for one more year.
If a player turns 38 in the fourth year of the contract and his birthday is after 10/1, unless the team has bird rights, he will be restricted by the 38-year-old clause and cannot sign a contract of four years or more.
Why is there a 38-year-old clause?
The 38-year-old clause is mainly to prevent teams from using loopholes to expand salary space. Before there is the 38-year-old clause, teams can give normal contracts to players who are ready to retire, so that some of the salary that should be included in the salary space will be paid after retirement.
From another aspect, the 38-year-old clause can also be regarded as a protection for the team, preventing players from signing when they are close to retirement and then announcing their retirement and collecting their salary.
Why is the age 38 clause important?
The 38-year-old clause is the one that star players and their agents are most concerned about when seeking long-term contracts, and it will also generate a large number of derivative cases.
Kevin Durant signed a four-year, 198 million contract with the Nets in 2021. Durant will be 37 years old in the last year of this contract. Since he had just stayed with the Nets for two years at that time, he could not sign a five-year contract in advance. He could have waited another year and signed a five-year contract in 2022. But the age-38 clause prevents this, so Durant signed a contract in 2021.
This decision also affects the follow-up. If there is no 38-year-old clause and Durant signs a four-year contract in advance, he may become a free agent and leave directly this year without publicly calling for a trade.
