David Kelly swears: He’s not spoiling for a fight.
“Not at all,” Kelly said last month, peering through a Zoom call. Last February, Kelly, a former Warriors executive, was appointed the new executive director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). Since assuming the post, Kelly has declared war on the second apron, defended Kawhi Leonard through the Clippers cap circumvention scandal and grumbled about players not getting cut in on NBA Europe. “We actually think that the league is in a very good place,” says Kelly. But? “We're not afraid to take on a fight,” he says. “And we definitely are ready to take on a fight on things that we feel very principled about.”
