It was only a matter of time before the union weighed in.

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In a statement Thursday, National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts refuted Silver’s remarks, assuring the business of basketball is “thriving” amid record television contracts and arena deals.

The NBPA is expected to opt out of its collective bargaining agreement with the league in December 2016, so this is par for the course as both sides jockey for positioning at the negotiating table.

“New and renovated arenas around the league have proven to be revenue drivers, profit centers, and franchise valuation boosters. That has been the case over the past few years in Orlando, Brooklyn, and New York, to name a few. In some instances, owners receive arena revenues that are not included in BRI. Many teams also receive generous arena subsidies, loans and other incentives from state and local governments as part of their arena deals.

“Virtually every business metric demonstrates that our business is healthy. Gate receipts, merchandise sales and TV ratings are all at an all-time high. Franchise values have risen exponentially in recent years, and the NBA has enjoyed high single digit revenue growth since 2010-11.”

Aside from the looming labor strife, the NBA seemingly has never been healthier.

The league will enter a new, nine-year, $24 billion television contract beginning next year. Its franchises — like the Clippers, who sold for $2 billion last year — are worth more than ever. In fact, the NBA recently saw 10 teams crack Forbes’ list of the 50 most valuable in the world — up from just four a year ago.

“I don’t know the precise number and don’t want to get into it, but a significant number of teams are continuing to lose money and they continue to lose money because their expenses exceed their revenue,” Silver said at the NBA’s Board of Government meeting this week. “Even with revenue sharing, and fairly robust revenue sharing, when some teams are receiving over $20 million checks from their partners.”

Almost in the same breath, Silver also said the league “is in very good shape.” So it’s easy to see how his financial claims sound like empty politicking, which of course is part of his duty to the owners.

Let the labor disputes begin.