IN 2019 THE NBA amended the official start of its free agent negotiating period to begin at a more reasonable hour: 6 p.m. ET on June 30 instead of midnight ET on July 1. The idea was to allow for the first round of calls and meetings to be done in time for everyone to sleep on their decisions.
It was all done with good intentions. But weather-related travel delays have no such empathy. Not even for billionaires with private planes like Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris and franchise legend Julius Erving, who found themselves delayed by two hours for the most important free agent meeting of 2024, sources told ESPN.