NBA rules Nets' Dinwiddie can't use contract for digital investment

The NBA ruled Friday that Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie will not be allowed to use his contract as a digital investment vehicle, according to a league statement issued to Marc Stein of The New York Times.

"According to recent reports, Spencer Dinwiddie intends to sell investors a 'tokenized security' that will be backed by his player contract," the statement read.

"The described arrangement is prohibited by the CBA, which provides that 'no player shall assign or otherwise transfer to any third party his right to receive compensation from the team under his uniform player contract.'"

Dinwiddie told Stein he intends to meet with NBA executives to further explain the idea in hopes of overturning the decision.

The 26-year-old is entering the first season of a three-year, $34.4-million extension he signed with the Nets last winter. He planned to allow investors to essentially buy shares of his deal through a digital token with a minimum $150,000 investment.

The initiative would have provided Dinwiddie with immediate upfront funds - Stein notes he hoped to raise between $4.95 million and $13.5 million. Investors would have later profited through interest payments after he signed his next deal, with the assumption that contract would be worth much more than his current pact.

Dinwiddie defended the unorthodox concept earlier this week and attempted to dissuade the league from prohibiting it.

"Do you really want to do that? Because wouldn't that be bad PR for them to do that? I would think," he said. "Then I'd start to look like (Colin) Kaepernick."

Dinwiddie has improved in each of his first five NBA seasons. After scoring just 4.3 points per game as a rookie with the Detroit Pistons, he went on to average 4.8, 7.3, and 12.6 points in his next three campaigns. He averaged a career-high 16.8 points to along with 4.6 assists with the Nets last season.