Derek Fisher, the president of the National Basketball Players Association, has responded to comments made by LeBron James about possible contraction in the NBA.

"Hopefully the league can figure out one way where it can go back to the '80s where you had three or four All-Stars, three or four superstars, three or four Hall of Famers on the same team," James told reporters on Thursday night. "The league was great. It wasn't as watered down as it is [now]."

The union is in negotiations with the league for a new collective bargaining agreement, so it was a curious time for James to make a comment that supports fewer jobs in his field.

"I don't necessarily agree with [James' comments], but at the same time I understand and respect the fact [that] 460 opinions won't always be alike," Fisher said Friday.

"I don't think it's my place to tell one of our guys what they should be thinking or feeling or saying, but I don't necessarily agree with the sentiment."

Fisher doesn't feel that having a high-profile player like James take a stance that isn't in line with the group will compromise the union's bargaining position.

"I don't know if it necessarily hurts our cause," Fisher said. "It's surprising I would say, I guess, maybe to a lot of people but I guess I'm just a realist in that regard. Even in the past when there have been guys that made comments that have been deemed detrimental to the cause, it's unrealistic to think that you have almost 500 people in one group and everybody is going to say the same thing and have the same responses to certain questions."