Free agency in the NBA is an opportunity for players to maximize both their earnings and winning potential, making their decision to sign with a team crucial.
Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie is putting that decision in the hands of his fans after creating a GoFundMe page to donate money for the right to determine his next team.
After responding to a hypothetical question on Twitter, Dinwiddie later tweeted that he’ll let fans choose what team to sign with for a minimum contract. Stipulations are that fans must donate 2625.8 in Bitcoin — the approximate worth of $24.6 million — via the crowdfunding profile.
I’ll double down. Y’all crowdfund 2625.8 btc I’ll sign a minimum contract for my next deal with the team that y’all vote for 🤣
I’ll give y’all a month to make it happen lol https://t.co/pV8vGyW0s8
— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) May 14, 2020
He followed up with a poll asking what team he should sign with. The Detroit Pistons won a plurality of the votes.
The real question is who should I sign with? 🤔
— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) May 15, 2020
READ MORE: AP Source: Poll of NBA players shows desire to play, if safe
The Nets’ starting point guard was posting career-high stats before the coronavirus pandemic halted the regular season: 20.6 points, 6.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. His current contract is for more than $11 million dollars and expires after the 2021-2022 season, according to Sports Illustrated. He explained in a Twitter thread his rationale for the procedure.
“This is actually about a free market system and crowdsourcing a [free agency] decision,” Dinwiddie wrote.
Just to clear the air, this has nothing to do with my security token. That is a completely separate concept and a business venture designed for profit. (Which is on going, talk to Tritaurian Capital 😉)
This is actually about a free market system and crowdsourcing a FA decision. https://t.co/7WVwUeuTMw
— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) May 16, 2020
“I simply want to choose my influences and democratize this access in the process,” he said in a follow up.
Overall a potential FA is influenced by many things. Family, winning, state taxes, shoe companies, agency, market size etc.
I simply want to choose my influences and democratize this access in the process.
So I set my favorite numbers in btc as the price. (26, 25 and 8 🙏🏾)— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) May 16, 2020
He continued to elaborate his decision with a statement, according to Shams Charania of sports outlet The Athletic.
“Shoe companies and endorsers influence team decisions all the time. My/our biggest endorsers will always be the fans, so I want to have some fun with this while we’re all under quarantine,” he said. “I hope no owners/team personnel participate so there’s no impropriety on this one of a kind endorsement deal.”
Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) says he will sign a one-year deal with the NBA team fans decide if they reach Bitcoin target of roughly $24,632,630 on a GoFundMe. Dinwiddie’s statement: pic.twitter.com/oebwkoFBEO
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 16, 2020
Realizing that the goal of $24.6 million is high and in anticipation of falling short, Dinwiddie said. If the full amount isn’t raised, all of the money would be donated to charity, he added.
“The reason why 100% of the proceeds go to charity if we are even a dime short of our target on this project is because I understand the likelihood, or lack thereof in this experiment,” Dinwiddie tweeted.
Lastly, obviously ~24M is VERY steep and that’s on purpose.
The reason why 100% of the proceeds go to charity if we are even a dime short of our target on this project is because I understand the likelihood, or lack thereof in this experiment.— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) May 16, 2020
Since the launch of the campaign on Friday, Dinwiddie has raised $826.