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LAS VEGAS — National Basketball Players Association executive director David Kelly criticized the NBA’s salary cap and luxury tax system on Friday, arguing that the newly implemented “second apron” must be “softened” or removed.
“We are not fans of the second apron,” Kelly mentioned. “We did not propose the second apron. We should have done a better job of fighting back against the second apron. In the future, we will have a much more unified union, and we will do a better job of fighting back. … We’re seeing [the apron system] decimate teams and force decisions to be made that are not basketball decisions.”
Kelly, a former Golden State Warriors executive who succeeded former All-Star Andre Iguodala as the head of the players union in February, disputed NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s contention that the apron system was designed to foster parity. Instead, Kelly argued the system was instituted in 2023 for “control cost purposes” related to player salary.
Under the NBA’s current financial system, which utilizes a $165 million salary cap and a $200.4 million luxury tax line, any team exceeding the $209 million “first apron” faces stiffer luxury tax penalties and some restrictions on adding talent via trade and free agency. The highest-spending teams, which exceed the $221.7 million second apron, incur the harshest luxury tax penalties and face restrictions on their ability to add talent via free agency, trades and the draft.
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Given these financial penalties and roster-building restrictions, NBA teams have collectively shown a reluctance to surpass the second apron. The Cleveland Cavaliers were the only team to do so during the 2025-26 season.
The Boston Celtics cited the second apron as a factor in their decision to trade 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this month, and New York Knicks owner James Dolan mentioned his team would seek to avoid second apron penalties despite winning the 2026 championship. The Knicks subsequently watched backup center Mitchell Robinson depart in free agency.
“I don’t know that fans in Boston would say that everyone’s making out fine [in the current system], or that fans in New York would say that everyone is making out fine,” Kelly mentioned during a news conference announcing the union’s new leadership team. “You have a [Celtics] team that just came off of a championship [in 2024] that will not have those guys together. We see that as a problem for our members, but also for the fans and for the game. … How do we make sure that whatever system we’re putting in place does not hurt fan interests and hurt players for the benefit of some sort of cost control for a certain number of owners?”
Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet, who serves as the president of the NBPA, mentioned the players are not the only stakeholders raising questions about the impact of the aprons.
“We’ve seen more teams, GMs, front offices, owners and agents have issues and concerns with the apron as well,” VanVleet mentioned. “That’s a little bit newer, right? We had to see it play out. It’s almost a consensus that it’s something that needs to be addressed.”
The NBPA also expressed dismay that the apron system was applying pressure on star players to accept discounted contracts to ensure their organizations could retain their teammates. San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama agreed to a five-year, $252 million rookie contract extension Friday when he could have been eligible for a five-year pact worth $302.8 million. Wembanyama appeared to reference his potential financial sacrifice in a social media post Friday: “Spurs family, I’m here to stay. Whatever it takes.”
“We think the players should make decisions for themselves and we should not be … pocket-watching,” Kelly mentioned, when asked about Wembanyama. “The system should not require a player to carry all of that burden. We should not put a player in the position to carry the burden of keeping a team together.”
The apron system has been credited with leveling talent across the NBA’s 30 teams, and it has coincided with an unprecedented era of parity at the top of the league. For the first time in its history, the NBA has crowned eight different champions during an eight-year span. During that period, the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets won their first championships, and the Knicks and the Milwaukee Bucks snapped long title droughts.
But Kelly noted that the ongoing parity era commenced before the apron system was installed.
“The apron’s been in place for three years,” he mentioned. “For five years leading into the apron, we had parity. I don’t think the apron was necessary to create parity.”
Kelly mentioned that it would be “fantastic” if the NBA and National Basketball Players Association could agree to “some tweaks” to the apron system during the current collective bargaining agreement. Otherwise, the issue won’t be addressed until the next round of labor negotiations, which could begin after the 2028-29 season if the owners or players exercise their ability to opt out of the current agreement.
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