Ineligible for benefits to care for his autistic sons, Tony Snell misses the deadline to complete his tenth year of NBA service.
One of the most talked-about basketball stories of the season is Tony Snell’s goal to sign with an NBA franchise.
The Maine Celtics are the G League affiliate of the Boston Celtics, and the 32-year-old guard plays for them.
Throughout the most of his nine-year NBA career, he was a supporting player. In order to get retirement benefits for players with at least ten years of service, he was striving to sign with a team before the deadline of February 2.
Players who have ten years of service are eligible to acquire lifetime health insurance for their children under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. Snell claimed he was also classified as being on the autism spectrum. His two young sons have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
There are two benefit retirement tiers offered by the NBA. A player is qualified for individual lifetime health insurance after he has three years of experience. A player’s family members can receive lifetime health insurance through premium benefits if they have played for 10 or more years.
Snell had one more day to join with an NBA team in order to be eligible for his tenth year of service, which was Friday. Snell scored three points in Friday’s game between the Grand Rapids Gold and the Maine Celtics.
This season, he has made 14 appearances in the G League, averaging 4.1 points per game. Older players like Snell usually have a difficult time getting playing time because many G League teams are focused on developing younger players.
Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkely pleaded strongly earlier this week for a team to sign Snell before the deadline for the benefits program expired.
“I’m hoping — you know, the NBA’s been great to all of us sitting up here — I hope one of you guys sign Tony so his two autistic kids can get great medical care,” Barkley said in a segment on “NBA on TNT.”
