NEW YORK -- Michele Roberts, the NBA players' union executive director, on Wednesday questioned several of the principles that for decades have governed owner-player relations in the league, objecting to the concept of a salary cap while making clear she'd push for much more than a 50-50 split of basketball-related income.

"Why don't we have the owners play half the games?" Roberts said, speaking in her Harlem office to ESPN The Magazine. "There would be no money if not for the players."

"Let's call it what it is. There. Would. Be. No. Money," she added, pausing for emphasis. "Thirty more owners can come in, and nothing will change. These guys [the players] go? The game will change. So let's stop pretending."


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Jennifer S. Altman/Washington Post/Getty Images
Michele Roberts of the NBA players' association made history in July by being elected the first female union chief in major North American sports.
Roberts, hailed as one of the most brilliant trial lawyers in the United States, made history in July by being elected the first female union chief in major North American sports.

But given the context of a nine-year, $24 billion TV deal set to begin in 2016, and the players' ability to opt out of the league's collective bargaining agreement after the 2016-17 season, Roberts' relatively radical perspective could prove to be just as profound a change.

"I don't know of any space other than the world of sports where there's this notion that we will artificially deflate what someone's able to make, just because," she said, talking about a salary cap -- a collectively bargained policy that, in its current form, has constrained team spending in the NBA since 1984-85. "It's incredibly un-American. My DNA is offended by it."

The rookie wage scale, she argued, is also problematic, as are max contracts, another entrenched restriction of the NBA's free market that Roberts wants dissolved.

"I can't understand why the [players' association] would be interested in suppressing salaries at the top if we know that as salaries at the top have grown, so have salaries at the bottom," she said. "If that's the case, I contend that there is no reason in the world why the union should embrace salary caps or any effort to place a barrier on the amount of money that marquee players can make."

But Roberts didn't merely take aim at financial constraints on player wages.

While commissioner Adam Silver has proposed increasing the NBA draft age limit to 20, Roberts rejected the philosophy underpinning an age minimum.

"It doesn't make sense to me that you're suddenly eligible and ready to make money when you're 20, but not when you're 19, not when you're 18," she said. "I suspect that the association will agree that this is not going to be one that they will agree to easily. There is no other profession that says that you're old enough to die but not old enough to work."

Nor does Roberts expect the players to swiftly consent to the current plan for "cap smoothing," as relayed by the NBA's attorneys, wherein the league would avoid a TV-driven spike in the salary cap in 2016 by artificially and incrementally increasing the cap over multiple seasons leading into that season.

"You can call it a 'spike,' but it's also just an accurate reflection of what the revenue is," she said. "At first glance, [cap smoothing] is not that attractive, I won't lie. But we're studying it to figure out if there really is some advantage for players."

Roberts also would like to keep investigating the prospect of shortening the 82-game season, a desire already expressed by superstars such as LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki.

"Every time a player gets hurt, I think, my God, they really are pushing their bodies," she said. "And back-to-backs, those are the ones I really find disturbing. ... So the answer, of course, is that everybody wants a shorter season. The tension is, Will that mean less money? And that's something we need to talk about and think about. ... I don't think it would hurt the game to shorten the season."

In fact, Roberts doesn't think that teams are hurting for money, period -- even if she did recently hear Silver report that roughly one-third of NBA franchises are still unprofitable.

"I initially just started laughing, to be honest with you," she said of her reaction to that statistic. "I know that as a result of the last CBA, at least 1.3 billion dollars in revenue that would have otherwise been on the players' side is now on the owners' side. I see the valuations of these teams going though the roof. ... How much more do you need to make money?"

So how has the NBA managed to successfully institute legislation that, in Roberts' view, is both opposed to this country's capitalistic principles and her players' best interests?

"No one wants to say it out loud, but it's a monopoly," she said. "And were there alternatives, they wouldn't get away with it."

"I'll give the league credit," she added. "They have done a great job controlling the narrative."

Until they call her bluff...

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

You've got to start somewhere and then meet somewhere in the middle. At least she is planting her flag somewhere outrageously. If Obama was running the union, he would start by submitting a plan that was 90% opinions of the owners.

You've got to start somewhere and then meet somewhere in the middle. At least she is planting her flag somewhere outrageously. If Obama was running the union, he would start by submitting a plan that was 90% opinions of the owners.

I agree, but most of the things she said the owners are just going to laugh at.

Players: We don't want a salary cap.
Owners: No.
Players: We don't want a rookie wage scale.
Owners: No.
Players: Uhhh.
Owners: Let us know when you want to start talking.

Ultimately, the players will get paid a lot more because the NBA is getting a lot more money.

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

If there is another lockout, I hope David Stern is somehow involved. His late night press conferences after a long day of negotiations were fantastic. Lots of drunken fun watching them at 1:00 or 2:00 AM.

i forgot those, those were great

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

If there is another lockout, I hope David Stern is somehow involved. His late night press conferences after a long day of negotiations were fantastic. Lots of drunken fun watching them at 1:00 or 2:00 AM.

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

Our only hope is that Greg Poppovich represents the owners in negotiations.

Until they call her bluff...

Yes it is.

When this is all over, which is not going to be for a while, Trump will be re-elected President.

An interesting dynamic is to simultaneously make the case that: "Owners have franchises worth billions of dollars" and "We can crush you if we want and make your ownership meaningless".

I am not sure about her point with wage suppression. Almost all collective bargaining agreements have "wage suppression" or better known as wage scales. What she is neglecting to mention is that the deal benefits both sides because it gives a fixed percentage of league revenues to the players. Otherwise, the players could presumably get paid less than that fixed percentage.

These deals also promote league balance with an eye toward maximizing revenue and rules for all teams to play by. Her cause would be better served if the players weren't making so much money. As it always happens, this is a fight between millionaires and billionaires, so most of us don't have sympathy for either side. I will say this- the players risk their physical well being, while an owner risks his financial well being. Thus, the players are guaranteed to make money but sacrifice health. Alternatively, the owners risk money but do not sacrifice health.

"There would be no money if not for the players."

"Let's call it what it is. There. Would. Be. No. Money," she added, pausing for emphasis.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

This should be the easiest of the 4 leagues where players can play tough guy against management. They'll still get crushed.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

Fans always side with owners so the players will lose no matter what. I would love to see the players win one of these battles.

Id love to lose my labor negations like pro athletes players do.

Id love to lose my labor negations like pro athletes players do.