PBWA responds to Roberts' criticism of NBA media availability setup

The Professional Basketball Writers Association (PBWA) responded Thursday to comments made by NBPA executive director Michele Roberts in an ESPNW interview.

In the interview, published Wednesday, Roberts was critical of how the NBA's media availability is currently setup, calling the present arrangement an incredible invasion of privacy to players. She lamented the standing around done by reporters in the locker room, especially those who don't ultimately ask questions.

The PBWA released a statement in response, discussing media availability as a whole and Roberts' concerns in particular:

The suggestion that reporters use locker-room access periods to eavesdrop on players’ conversations or to do anything other than work is inaccurate. The NBA’s pregame media-access period provides a vital forum for building constructive relationships between players and reporters. In the vast majority of cases, reporters are in locker rooms before a game because the reporters are waiting to interview players who are in the training room for treatment, on the court warming up or attending pregame chapel services.

The vast majority of players and the vast majority of our members have positive interactions on a daily basis.
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The PBWA would welcome the opportunity to meet with Michele Roberts at any location and time of her choosing to discuss the issues she raised in the espnW.com column.

Prior to last season, the NBA cut down the pregame availability for players from 45 minutes to 30 minutes and the open practice time from 30 minutes to 15 minutes.

Roberts' comments were likely at least in part an act of posturing ahead of a distributive collective bargaining negotiation when the union opts out of the current deal in 2017. The PBWA doesn't really have much of a seat at that table and may be a somewhat innocent victim here as the league and union dig in to their pre-bargaining stances.