A History of NBA Contract Weight Clauses
· Yahoo Sports
The contract negotiations between the Detroit Pistons and restricted free agent Jalen Duren this past offseason, and got ugly. Eventually, they were resolved, when Duren agreed to re-sign to a five-year, $200 million contract. But for a time there, until it was removed later in the negotiations, the Pistons wanted Duren to accept a contract with a rare caveat – a weight clause.
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In the midst of the Duren saga, some internet commenters claimed that weight clauses are common in NBA contracts, if not customary. They are neither. They are rare. They are not, however, unprecedented. And while a finite list cannot be produced without access to decades of the kinds of records that no one even keeps, let alone shares with the outside world, it is possible to find evidence – from both contemporary news reports and, in the cases of more modern players, from seeing the actual contract information on the NBA’s official salary portal, which genuinely does exist – it is possible to arrive at something fairly close to one.
To the best of the knowledge of this author, then, there follows a look at the relatively complete history of NBA contracts that contained weight clauses.
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Benoit Benjamin
Amid their negotiations to re-sign Benjamin dragged on through the 1989 offseason, to the L.A. Clippers offered a package featuring pay bonuses for meeting weight targets. Benjamin’s weight had been a topic of conversation throughout his career to date, and although it did not stop him from averaging 16.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game in the 1988-89 season, the Clippers felt he played better when slimmer and wanted to incentivize that. They offered a contract that would pay Benjamin more money for each month that he weighed in at under 255 pounds – Benjamin rejected the offer, which the Clippers interpreted as him not being committed enough, and swiftly signed in Italy, before the sides reconvened the following week and signed a deal nigh-n identical to the original except with a threshold of 260lbs instead.
Boris Diaw
Having shown up to the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats’ season being noticeably overweight, the laconic Frenchman joined up with the San Antonio Spurs, and rebirthed his career. When re-signing Diaw in the summer of 2014, however, the Spurs saw fit to add some financial incentive to the deal. In addition to his base salary of $5 million, Diaw was to receive $150,000 if he weighed 254 pounds or less on October 25th, $150,000 if he weighed 254 pounds or less on the day after the All-Star break, and $200,000 if he weighed 254 pounds or less on April 1st. Diaw agreed, made all three dates, and received the money.
Charles Barkley
When the Round Mound of Rebound was drafted all the way back in 1984, the standarized rookie scale contracts of today were not a thing. With this in mind, the Philadelphia 76ers took the bold step of insisting upon a weight clause in Barkley’s first-ever NBA contract. The details are not known. What is known, though, is how Barkley had deliberately gotten fat so that the 76ers would not draft him. The ploy failed in one way, but did at least get him the higher paycheck he wanted.
Darryl Dawkins
At his peak, Chocolate Thunder – 6’11, roughly 250lb, running and leaping like a track star – was a prime physical specimen. All too often, though, that 250lb number read more like 300lb. When he signed with the same 76ers team and ownership group that would sign Barkley two years later, then, Dawkins would sign a heavily incentive-laden contract – one of the clauses of which directly pertained to his weight.
Derrick Caracter
Derrick Caracter was the 58th pick of the 2010 NBA Draft by the L.A. Lakers, and signed a two-year minimum salary contract to open his pro career. With weight problems having tempered his once-bright status as a college prospect, weight-based incentives were introduced; the first year was only $250,000 guaranteed, becoming fully guaranteed if Caracter weighed equal to or less than 275lbs on September 10th 2010. The second year was fully unguaranteed irrespective of weight. Caracter took to the task, showed up extremely slim. made the weight and stuck with the team for 18 months, although he would not sign another NBA contract.
Glen Davis
Glen “Big Baby” Davis re-signed with the Boston Celtics for two years and $5 million in August 2009 to a contract that contained performance incentives pertaining to his weighted, which boosted the contract from $2,500,000 annually to $3,000,004, based on his weight. (I have no idea what the four dollars was for.) Officially, he made the grade, and received the money. But after his departure from the Celtics, Jackie McMullen reported of the team’s frustration at Davis’s “disregard” for the clause.
Kevin Duckworth
Talented though he was, weight was always an issue for two-time All-Star Duckworth across his 13-season NBA career. Even at the time of his second All-Star berth, Duckworth was reported to have a weight clause in his contract that would see him suspended if he exceeded a certain weight – and three years later, while still on the same contract, he was.
Lonnie Shelton
Although all his pictures seem to show only an absolute tank of a man, Shelton – listed as 6’8 and 240lbs yet reportedly often over 300lb – was reported to have had a weight clause towards the end of his career.
Marcus D. Williams
Williams – so named as to distinguish him from Marcus E. Williams, who joined the league a few years later – was a first-round pick in 2006 after an esteemed college career at UConn, but the athleticism, speed and endurance required of the NBA game required a level of dedication to his fitness that it was deemed necessary to incentivize. Accordingly, when Williams signed a one-year minimum salary contract in August 2009 with the Memphis Grizzlies, he received a pay dump based on his weight and body fat. $500,000 of his $855,189 salary was guaranteed regardless, but a further $23,679 became guaranteed after each of 15 specific dates in which Williams’s total body weight was equal to or less than 207 pounds, and his body fat was at or below 10%. He served out the full term of his contract and received the entire amount.
Mel Turpin
Mel Turpin only ever signed two NBA playing contracts. Both contained weight-based financial incentvives.
Pearl Washington
In a rare instance of a weight clause for a guard, back in 1985, Dwayne “Pearl” Washington’s rookie contract with the New Jersey Nets (signed in 1986) included a specific incentive weight clause that guaranteed him extra money if he arrived at rookie camp under a designated weight limit, However, Washington went the other way – his weight had ballooned to 228 pounds, significantly over his barely-tolerable collegiate playing weight of 215 pounds, and well past his target limit. As a result, he failed to meet the requirements of the clause and missed out on the financial bonus.
Sean May
After a difficult, injury-affected start to his pro career, May’s second contract was merely a minimum-salary deal with the Sacramento Kings in the summer of 2009. All but $100,000 of his $884,881 contract was guaranteed, but the guaranteed was to increase to full if May weighed equal to or less than 265 pounds on September 30th or October 27th of that year. He achieved this, and played a career-high 37 games that season. He did not, however, play in the NBA again after that season.
Zach Randolph
In a podcast episode over the summer, former Blazers forward Zach Randolph told the story of how his rookie scale contract called for a $500,000 bonus if he weighed 250lbs or less, something he missed out on by a single pound as he took the scales at 251lbs. I’m not saying he is wrong. I’m just saying, it is not appearing as such as the document I am seeing.
Zion Williamson
The most prominent example of a weight clause in recent times has been that of New Orleans Pelicans enigma, Zion Williamson. When signing his rookie scale extension in the summer of 2022, the Pelicans made sure to include incentives regarding his weight, using a threshold of nearly 300lbs despite Zion being listed at only 6’6. Specifically, Williamson’s combined weight (in pounds) plus body fat percentage must not exceed 295, to be measured via multiple periodic weigh-in checkpoints throughout each season. Passing the weigh-ins and meeting games-played milestones (such as 41, 51, or 61 games) thereafter protects and guarantees portions of his multi-year salary. And when talking about a $42.6 million salary, those portion matter.
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