NBPA head Michele Roberts released a statement today in response to commissioner Adam Silver’s recent comments where he indicated that several NBA teams were still losing money despite the salary givebacks and enhanced revenue sharing agreed upon in the last CBA (h/t RealGM). “Under the CBA, we do not have a gross compensation system. The players’ 50% share is calculated net of a substantial amount of expenses and deductions,” Roberts said. “New and renovated arenas around the league have proven to be revenue drivers, profit centers, and franchise valuation boosters. That has been the case over the past few years in Orlando, Brooklyn, and New York, to name a few. In some instances, owners receive arena revenues that are not included in BRI. Many teams also receive generous arena subsidies, loans and other incentives from state and local governments as part of their arena deals.”
Roberts concluded by adding, “Virtually every business metric demonstrates that our business is healthy. Gate receipts, merchandise sales and TV ratings are all at an all-time high. Franchise values have risen exponentially in recent years, and the NBA has enjoyed high single digit revenue growth since 2010/11.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- A league source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link) that there are approximately 10 NBA teams that are currently losing money.
- Terdema Ussery, a finalist for the union executive director position that went to Roberts, is leaving his position as president and CEO of the Mavericks effective August 30th, the team announced via press release. He’ll join Under Armour, the Mavs said.
- Former Georgetown forward Greg Whittington has three partially guaranteed deals on the table from NBA squads, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets. The undrafted 22-year-old has averaged 15.7 points per game during Las Vegas Summer League play, Charania notes.
- Shooting guard Daniel Hackett, who worked out for the Knicks, has officially signed with Olympiacos of Greece, the team announced (translation by Enea Trapani of Sportando).
- Austin Rivers‘ two-year deal with the Clippers will pay him $3.1MM for next season, $3.3MM for the 2016/17 campaign, and the guard has a player option included in his contract for the final season, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The deal that Nemanja Bjelica inked with the Timberwolves will pay him $3.95MM for the 2015/16 season, $3.8MM the following year, $3.95MM during the 2017/18 campaign, and all three seasons are fully guaranteed, Pincus relays (on Twitter).
Whittington is really versatile and athletic. I hope the Heat can somehow sneak him into the D-League, and retain his rights. He can be a real asset for someone on the wing, and he plays both ends of the floor
That the players were considering a longtime team executive to lead the union, and instead picked Roberts, says a lot about their desire for change. Going from 57% BRI to 50-51%, and then seeing franchise values spike, has the players loaded for bear.
I really think that we’re headed for a lockout. The players should get more, but I think the owners are greedy enough to try to actually get more back from the players, which is crazy to me, considering what they gave up last time.
The owners didn’t make their money by failing to capitalize on opportunities to make it, that’s for sure.
Adam Silver is full of sh**…this is just pushback on what the players union has been saying, and it’s pretty ridiculous. The league just signed a $24 billion/9 year tv deal. They just had the highest rated NBA finals since Jordan. They just made so much revenue this year, that they had to send the players $57 million to spread out b/c there was so much in excess over projections. Try to tell me they’re losing money. There shouldnt even be a salary cap, though that’s a different story. Still, it’s relevant, especially when we have so many players having to leave a ton of money on the table. That shouldn’t be happening. The players should lock the league out. They’d be suckers not to
Publicly subsidized billion-dollar businesses with multi-million-dollar employees complaining about money doesn’t evoke a drop of sympathy in me.
I love that Michelle is willing to take on the owners. It’s about time.