Boris Diaw’s New Contract With The Spurs Includes Weight-Based Incentives

The San Antonio Spurs have mostly approached Boris Diaw’s lingering weight issues with levity. Gregg Popovich has frequently mentioned Diaw’s physique since the Frenchman came aboard as a mid-season castaway in 2011-2012, and did so most recently at the beginning of training camp – the Spurs were supposedly taking bets on Diaw’s weight beginning at 275 pounds. Ever clever, Diaw responded by posting a wry photo on Facebook with a caption directed at Popovich.

Post by Boris DIAW.

Funny, funny, funny. Boris has weight problems! Well, apparently San Antonio doesn’t find them so amusing when it comes to the contract Diaw signed with the team this summer.

Via ESPN’s Amin Elhassan, here are some particulars of the four-year, $28 million deal Diaw inked in July:

Most importantly, Diaw’s deal features $500,000 in annual performance bonuses in the form of a weight clause. Each season, he gets:

• $150,000 for weighing less than or equal to 254 pounds on Oct. 25
• $150,000 for weighing less than or equal to 254 pounds on the first Tuesday after the All-Star Game
• $200,000 for weighing less than or equal to 254 pounds on April 1

Basically, the Spurs have given Diaw a real incentive to make weight at three important junctures of the season: opening night, post-All-Star stretch and playoff push.

This is brilliant. Not only is Diaw’s new deal only partially guaranteed for the third season and non-guaranteed for the fourth, but the Spurs found a way to try and keep him in shape – money, of course.

It makes us wonder how many other contracts in the league carry similar language. Can the Detroit Pistons include a clause that is meant to preclude Josh Smith from shooting outside 12-feet? Will the Memphis Grizzlies try to up Marc Gasol’s offensive aggressiveness by including a financial incentive in his forthcoming deal for taking more shots? The possibilities seem endless, humorous, and potentially beneficial, too.

Let’s see if Diaw can stay relatively thin throughout the coming seasons. Should he manage to do so, we’ll surely know why.