NBPA’s David Kelly says the second apron must be reworked or scrapped, and won’t rule out a lockout

The players’ union has put the league on notice about its biggest target for the next labor deal. David Kelly, executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, said reworking or eliminating the second tax apron will be a primary goal when the two sides next sit down to bargain, and he did not rule out a work stoppage if they cannot agree.

Kelly made the comments in an interview with reporter Chris Mannix released Wednesday, five days after the league office publicly rejected the idea that the apron is squeezing the players’ middle class.

What Kelly said

Kelly acknowledged that the union agreed to the second apron when the current collective bargaining agreement was signed in 2023, but said its effects have gone further than the players expected. “We’re not fans of the second apron, and we think that it’s having consequences that definitely go far beyond what we anticipated,” he said, adding that those consequences hurt fans, teams and players alike.

His central complaint is that the rules push teams into moves driven by money rather than basketball. “If we have a system in place that forces teams to make trades that are based on business decisions and not basketball decisions, then we think that provision has gone too far,” Kelly said. Whether the answer is eliminating the apron or softening it, he said, “something needs to be done.”

• Homegrown stars: Kelly said there should “100%” be cap exceptions that help teams keep players they drafted and developed, rather than breaking up a core to stay under the aprons.
• Not a call for super-teams: he stressed the union is not pushing for stacked rosters, only for a system that lets fans grow with a player on one team.
• Parity argument: the league credits the apron with spreading out championship chances, but Kelly has pointed out that the NBA already had five different champions in the five seasons before it arrived in 2023-24.
• Room to bend: he floated softer penalties, new exceptions and a look at the repeater tax as ways the two sides could meet in the middle.

A lockout is not off the table

Asked whether the gap on the apron and other issues could lead to a work stoppage, Kelly did not rule it out, though he said he hopes it can be avoided. “We’ve had conversations and there’s some steps that we’re taking to make sure that we’re prepared,” he said.

The timeline gives both sides room. The current agreement runs through the 2029-30 season, but either the league or the union can opt out a year early, ending it on June 30, 2029, by giving notice on or before Oct. 15, 2028. That date is now two years away, which is why comments like Kelly’s carry weight well before formal talks begin.

The league’s side of the argument

The NBA has defended the apron as a parity tool. In an Oct. 9 statement, the league said the number of players on rosters has stayed the same and annual player salaries have risen by nearly $1.3 billion since the apron took effect. Kelly still sounded open to a middle ground. “It’s, ‘Can we reasonably agree to certain harms that the current system is inflicting on teams and on fans?’ If we can agree to that, then how do we create a system that addresses those?” he said.

For background, read how the league disputed claims that the second apron hurts middle-class players, our guide to how the salary cap works, and why some stars are not bound by this week’s extension deadline.