Paul OK with opposing views among players: 'Everyone doesn't have to agree'

Reflecting on recent weeks on a conference call Friday, National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul said diversity of opinions and perspectives among the players is a good thing for the league.

"You show me a league or anything like that where everybody has the same views ... but one thing about it is, we've learned to communicate with one another," Paul said, according to The Athletic's David Aldridge.

On June 5, 28 team representatives - on behalf of the NBPA - unanimously voted to approve the NBA's proposed 22-team restart plan. However, within a week, that picture of consensus began to give way to dissenting viewpoints.

Most prominently, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who serves as a vice president on the NBPA's executive committee, and Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley helped organize calls for players to voice their concerns with a number of facets regarding the NBA's plan. They discussed health concerns related to the ongoing pandemic to the optics of a league predominantly populated by Black athletes subjecting themselves to months of isolation at Walt Disney World, largely in service of the league's financial goals.

Also on Friday's call, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts said she "would have been ashamed if the players did not have a conversation" about the myriad ramifications of returning to play, according to The Salt Lake Tribune's Eric Walden.

Paul, whose Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the seeding phase ranked fifth in the Western conference, added: "The biggest thing we've learned from this issue is communication ... Everyone doesn’t have to agree - we're a big family."