Bird rights let a basketball team go over the salary cap to re-sign its own player. Named after Larry Bird, the rule rewards tenure: the longer a player has been with a team, the more the team can pay to keep them.
In HoopSim every season a player spends on your roster banks one season of Bird rights, counted when the season ends. One season is Non-Bird: you can go over the cap to pay up to 120% of their last salary. Two seasons is Early Bird: up to 175%. Three or more is Full Bird: up to their maximum salary. The rights follow the player: they stay with you while they sit in the free-agent pool, travel with them in a trade, and end only when they sign elsewhere, you cut them or you renounce them. No Bird deal can take you past the hard cap.
Rulebook: Bird rights. Related: contract extension, soft cap.