Michele Roberts was interviewed by Adrian Wojnarowski and was asked about the perception some people have that NBA players already make enough money, particularly when it comes to negotiating their split of basketball related income.
"I'm not prepared to concede the narrative to those who think players make too much," said Roberts. "Part of what I think is not being talked about sufficiently is players are making money, owners are making money.
"Forbes, we read just recently that the value of these teams, thank you Donald Sterling, we know what a team can make on the open market.
"Part of what I've observed in my review of the history of these negotiations is that there's been so much focus on what people perceive to be the player's compensation and virtually no focus on what the owners are able to enjoy. Which is not to say they shouldn't enjoy, but talk about making money, talk about the owners. Talk about the value of these teams: recall the players do not share in the value of those teams even though they absolutely do contribute to creating the value.
"I'm not going to say, well, 'I can't change the hearts and minds', perhaps I can't, but I'm not going to allow the narrative to be out there that the only people that are profiting from this game are the players and the poor owners are taking all of the risk and they're not enjoying any of this money. Oh, they are in a huge way. And the only question is whether the division of those dollars is a fair one.
"I'm not going to allow people to point fingers at the players without a full appreciation of the entire fabric of this business. If the reality is that as the game is growing financial, owners are holding onto those teams for a reason. There is a great deal of value. And there's a long line of folks that would love to buy a basketball team."