NEW YORK – NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released the following statement today in response to statements made by NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts to ESPN.com:

“We couldn’t disagree more with these statements.  The NBA’s success is based on the collective efforts and investments of all of the team owners, the thousands of employees at our teams and arenas, and our extraordinarily talented players.  No single group could accomplish this on its own.  Nor is there anything unusual or ‘un-American’ in a unionized industry to have a collective system for paying employees – in fact, that’s the norm.

“The Salary Cap system, which splits revenues between team owners and players and has been agreed upon by the NBA and the Players Association since 1982, has served as a foundation for the growth of the league and has enabled NBA players to become the highest paid professional athletes in the world.  We will address all of these topics and others with the Players Association at the appropriate time.”