NBPA Exec Dir Michele Roberts recently "issued an internal memo announcing the '2015 Players Choice Awards,'" for which "anonymous votes will be cast and the winners will be announced at a summer meeting in Las Vegas," according to Sam Amick of USA TODAY. Roberts in the memo wrote, "This program was created at your request to recognize outstanding performance of your peers, on and off the court. No one knows better than you what it takes to shine." Amick noted Warriors G Stephen Curry in a mid-March interview on "The Dan Patrick Show" said that players "should be given part of the MVP vote." Roberts indicated in the memo that MVP is "among the awards that will be voted on, and there is a 'Man of the Year' award as well that will honor a player's efforts in the community." The media "has voted on NBA awards" since the '80-81 season (USATODAY.com, 4/7).
DAZED & CONFUSED: In Boston, Gary Washburn noted one of Roberts' biggest tasks is "helping her clients comprehend the current CBA, an intricate document that covers everything from player contracts to penalties for violating the league’s drug policy to escrow and tax arrangement to the salary cap." Roberts: "Have you read the CBA? It is a ridiculously complicated and horribly written document. ... The first time that I read this thing, I said, ‘Who wrote this?’ Realistically, do I expect the players to read the CBA and understand the CBA? No. I don’t think most of the owners have read the CBA or understand the CBA. But what I do expect the players to understand are those portions of the CBA (that are important to them)" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/5).
