Chris Paul praises hiring of Michele Roberts: 'It's an unbelievable feeling'
Although four of the 36 executive committee members and player representatives opted for abstention in Monday night's election for a new NBPA executive director, the overwhelming majority were pleased to see Michele Roberts named as the union's new chief.
In fact, all 32 of the 32 remaining votes were for Roberts.
The positive aura surrounding her election isn't a surprise considering the NBPA has been without an executive director since Billy Hunter was ousted in February 2013, but union president Chris Paul genuinely believes that Roberts is the ideal person for the post.
"Today, we start out by telling the players how monumental today was," said Paul after Roberts' hiring was confirmed. "We've never had this amount of players here for a meeting, to give their input and feedback. After all the hours and time our executive committee, along with an amazing search committee that helped throughout this process, it's an unbelievable feeling to have the wonderful Michele Roberts now as a part of the team."
Paul was particularly impressed with the fresh ideas that were pitched by Roberts as well as her resolve throughout the extensive search for a new chief.
"One particular member from our search committee ... asked her a very tough question in the interviews and [vice president] Roger [Mason Jr.] almost fell out of his seat after she finished giving her answer," Paul said. "Even though she's a female, she's very relatable to a lot of our players. I think that's what really hit home for not only myself but some of these other guys as well."
Mason Jr. had some kind words for Roberts himself.
"It really is a new day for our union," the NBPA vice president said. "It started off with the players saying, 'We've had enough, we're taking our union back' a year and a half ago with Billy Hunter. We decided we wanted to be inclusive with all our players and find not only a successor but a new-age players association executive director. We're fortunate throughout a long and rigorous process, we found one."