Whether they like it or not, this month marks the first that the NBA players will start handing money back to the NBA.  Welcome to the luxury tax boys, which you all agreed to in order to end the lockout in 1999.  There will be 12 deductions thoughout the year, which in the end will total 10% of their salary.

All NBA players are aware of this, right?  Well, most are anyway.  Shareef Abdur-Rahim, the Hawks leader and highest paid player, admits he was blissfully unaware that 10 percent of his contract would be kicked back, "Until I was reminded of it this summer.  Others, such as Atlanta's Jacque Vaughn, knew what was coming and he didn't like it.   "I was a business major [at Kansas]. I realized the ramifications of it immediately. I had already lost half my salary that year. It's why I would have been willing to give up the entire [1998-99] season rather than agree to the deal we made."

The 15th is the date that the players will lose their money.  It will be interesting to see how many are like Shareef, and how many are like Vaughn.  But one thing is for certain, whether it is public or not there is bound to be some backlash.