NBPA Exec Dir Michele Roberts is "hailed as one of the sharpest trial lawyers in America," but she is "most unique for reasons far beyond her gender," according to Pablo Torre of ESPN.com. Roberts is "singular in her willingness to question the culturally calcified rules that govern player-owner relations in an industry in which she's never previously worked." Below are excerpts from the Q&A:
Q: The Collective Bargaining Agreement is a really long document. Have you read all of it? And, if so, what are your big takeaways?
Roberts: Initially it made my head explode. ... The current CBA makes better sense now that I've read the preceding two. ... It wants, clearly, to do some things a) to protect itself, from itself; and b) to limit -- and it's almost the same thing -- to limit player salaries because it's unable to somehow get the owners to behave in a way that makes sense from an owner's perspective. In terms of some of the salary structures, it's a way to rein in the owners because they can't otherwise rein in themselves.
Q: Is there a conflict between your principles and what might be good for the majority of your constituency? Would getting rid of the max contract, for instance, be bad for the majority by purely economic standards?
Roberts: I can't understand why in the world the union should embrace salary caps or any effort to place a barrier on the amount of money that marquee players can make. ... As it turns out, having max salaries is both offensive to me in terms of my personal principles and is harmful to the union. So that's an easy call. I'm not conflicted.
Q: So you've been on this tour, going to talk to the players. What are players most interested in?
Roberts: Right now, they're most interested in knowing me, which makes absolute sense. We talk about a number of things: one of them is TV revenue and this TV contract that's coming. But it's principally about them figuring out if they can trust me, and whether they think I'm more of the same.
Q: Does it strike you as strange that the suggestion that the players might request over 50 percent of basketball-related income, maybe materially more than 50 percent, sounds radical in this landscape?
Roberts: Let's put it this way: I have never heard anyone complain about the amount of money George Clooney makes. No one says a peep about the fact that this guy makes probably more than the highest-paid player in the NBA. It's mind-boggling to me that people think that the players make too much given that this is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and they do not enjoy most of the money that's being made. It is insane to suggest that these men make more money than they deserve. It is insane" (ESPN.com, 11/14).
RAVE REVIEWS: In S.F., Bruce Jenkins wrote Roberts deserves "hearty applause on all counts" for her stance on labor negotiations and the salary cap. In past labor negotiations, team owners collaborated with former NBA Commissioner David Stern to "bully the players and diminish their rights." The salary cap "has always struck this observer as a deeply flawed process." But the "problem is that Roberts, without provocation, has created an instantly adversarial relationship with new Commissioner Adam Silver" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/15).
KEY ACQUISITION: In Boston, Gary Washburn noted the NBPA last week hired a "key NBA executive to join its management team" by naming NBA Exec VP/Strategy & Development Chrysa Chin to the same position for the union. Chin "served as a league liaison for players and is often seen consulting prospects on draft night." The hiring indicates that the NBPA is "serious about better managing its constituents, many of whom had become disenchanted" under former Exec Dir Billy Hunter (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/16).
