Memphis Grizzlies' Marc Gasol (33) dunks against the Charlotte Hornets during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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By Ryan Poe of The Commercial Appeal

As the clock runs out this week on Tennessee's infamous "jock tax," the city of Memphis is about to turn over $2.38 million to more than 900 professional basketball players as part of a 2015 settlement.

The city will return its portion of the money — a third of the $7.27 million it's collected since Tennessee's professional privilege tax was approved in 2009 — within the next three or four weeks, said Brian Collins, the city's chief financial officer.

"(The money) was reserved a long time ago, and it won't have an impact on the city's budget this year or any year," Collins said. The city set the funds aside in fiscal year 2015.

The flat tax of $2,500 per game up to $7,500 for NBA and NHL players was widely criticized for eating up most — and in some cases all — of the income lower-paid athletes received from basketball games in Memphis and hockey games in Nashville.

Gary Kohlman, general counsel for the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), which sued the state over the tax, said "dozens" of players earning the legal minimum paid more in the tax than they earned from the games.

"That was not an isolated event," he said.

A spokesman for the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), which also sued the state, said its players lost money playing against the Nashville Predators too.

Kohlman said some NBA players were also charged the tax just because they were on the team's roster — even if they didn't play.

The Tennessee General Assembly voted in 2014 to repeal the tax, effective immediately for hockey players and June 1, 2016, for basketball players.

The unfairness of the tax was the basis for the NBPA's lawsuit against the state, which was settled in 2015, Kohlman said. The NHLPA also settled its suit against the state in 2015 for $3.27 million — about half of what players paid.

The state attorney general's office concluded there was significant risk the associations would prevail in the lawsuits, according to a City Council resolution proposed earlier this month. The resolution to allocate the settlement amount was dropped after the city and state agreed that the state would repay the money and subtract the amount from the city's portion of the state's Hall income tax.

A spokesman for the attorney general's office didn't immediately return calls.

Kohlman said the settlement not only gave players back some of their money and prevented them from being charged in the 2015-16 season, but also ensures the state doesn't try to reinstitute the tax.

"Going forward, it's the end of the whole tax scheme," he said.

The city's portion of proceeds of the NBA tax ranged from $1.1 million up to $2.1 million annually in years the tax was fully implemented, and went toward attracting and marketing events at FedExForum.

The Memphis Grizzlies declined to comment.

The payments end the controversy in Tennessee, but Kohlman said other states have tried similar taxes, including Ohio, home to the Cleveland Cavaliers and its star player LeBron James. Kohlman said the NBPA is filing refund requests now, and could sue Ohio if the requests are denied.