NBPA: Players 'carrying the burden' for teams due to second apron - ESPN

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 said. «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.

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