NBA pushes back on Bruce Brown claim that second apron hurts ‘middle’ class

The NBA apparently disagrees with Bruce Brown. Strongly.

After Brown suggested this week that the league’s new collective bargaining agreement has made life tougher on “middle” class players, the NBA issued a statement Friday disputing that idea.

“Recent reports asserted that the second apron is hurting ‘lower’ and ‘middle’ class players. That’s untrue,” the league said, via NBA PR.

The league added that since the second apron was implemented, the number of players on rosters has remained unchanged while annual salaries have increased by nearly $1.3 billion, resulting in pay increases of about 30% across all player classes.

Brown, who is in Knicks camp on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract, had expressed frustration after failing to land a guaranteed deal despite playing a significant role for Denver last season.

“The new CBA is good for certain players, right? Max guys, top free agents and maybe rookie extension guys,” Brown told reporters. “But other than that, like the middle guys, it kind of sucks for us.”

Brown also pointed to fewer full mid-level and taxpayer mid-level deals as evidence that teams are becoming more cautious with spending. The league’s position is that the broader numbers don’t support that conclusion.

There’s probably room for both things to be true here: Total player salaries can be rising while individual veterans such as Brown feel squeezed by teams becoming more conservative with exceptions and apron restrictions.

Either way, the NBA clearly didn’t want that criticism sitting out there unanswered.