In the mist of all the exciting fun with the NBA All Star activities starting Friday Night with the Rookie game to the big All Star line up Sunday. Many people are not aware that All Star is also a convention of sorts when the entire league comes together at one time to discuss business and indeed they did today!
Trying to put an end to a scandal involving their union’s business practices, NBA players as expected fired embattled union chief Billy Hunter on Saturday.
“Today for the National Basketball Players Association was a day of change,” said union president Derek Fisher. “Today, the motion was raised, seconded and passed unanimously that we will terminate the employment of Billy Hunter.”
The move to fire the 70-year old Hunter, who led the union for 17 years, came in the wake of a scathing report of the NBA Players Association’s business practices that revealed that Hunter used his power to help family members procure contracts from the union.
Although the report did not find that Hunter had done anything criminal, the U.S. Attorney’s office is investigating whether Hunter broke any laws in the union’s business dealings with an investment firm that once employed Hunter’s son, Todd. The contract that called for the union to pay $3 million to Todd Hunter’s firm, Cleveland-based Prim Capital, is being investigated for its legitimacy.
Players will now look to hire a replacement for Hunter, but there is no rush. The current collective bargaining agreement can’t be reopened by the owners or players until 2017.
