The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) is a

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

that represents

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) players. It was founded in 1954, making it the oldest trade union of the four

major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada The major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada commonly refer to the highest men's professional competitions of team sports in those countries. The four leagues traditionally included in the definition are Major League Base ...

. However, the NBPA did not get recognition by NBA team owners until ten years later. Its offices are located in the historic Park and Tilford Building in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was briefly a

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partic ...

after dissolving as a union during the 2011 NBA lockout.

History

Founding and struggle for recognition (1954–1957)

In 1954, Celtics star

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by ...

Bob Cousy and friend and unofficial agent Joe Sharry canvassed long-tenured players on each of the league's teams by mail, including the fledgling NBA's stars

Paul Arizin Paul Joseph Arizin (April 9, 1928 – December 12, 2006), nicknamed "Pitchin' Paul", was an American basketball player who spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Philadelphia Warriors from 1950 to 1962. He retir ...

and Dolph Schayes, and received support from the majority to approach the NBA President Maurice Podoloff. Cousy and the players sought basic improvements of conditions including being paid for promotional activities, a limit of twenty exhibition games per season, impartial dispute arbitration, and moving expenses for traded players. While back pay for players of folded franchises was granted by Podoloff, the NBA refused to acknowledge the players association or make other changes until Cousy approached the AFL-CIO in 1957 and the players threatened a strike.

Recognition, early successes, stalled negotiations (1957–1964)

After formal recognition by the NBA, the NBPA won its players

per diem ''Per diem'' ( Latin for "per day" or "for each day") or daily allowance is a specific amount of money that an organization gives an individual, typically an employee, per day to cover living expenses when travelling on the employer's business. A ' ...

payments and

travel expenses An operating expense, operating expenditure, operational expense, operational expenditure or opex is an ongoing cost for running a product, business, or system . Its counterpart, a capital expenditure (capex), is the cost of developing or provid ...

and an increase in the playoff pool payment, and the majority of the previously demanded conditions. In 1958, however, dismayed at the lack of dues payments by players, Cousy would resign his position from frustration. He was succeeded by Celtics second-year player

Tom Heinsohn Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a player, coach and broadcast ...

, who had studied labor relations at university and worked as a pension planner for an insurance company in his day job, and whose father was a union official in

Union City, New Jersey Union City is a city in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census the city had a total population of 68,589, Negotiations stalled with new NBA President Walter Kennedy and the NBP and the league entered a stalemate for most of 1964.

1964 All-Star game strike

At the 1964 NBA All-Star Game in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Heinsohn organised a

wildcat strike The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, whil ...

to force the NBA owners to recognise the union's demands. The game was to be the struggling NBA's first live television broadcast, and the league had to this point ignored the NBPA's demands delivered to league offices during the NBA off-season, and repeatedly refusing to meet with or acknowledge executive director Larry Fleisher as the union's authorized bargaining agent. The NBPA presented the assembled team owners with a list of demands to be met before the All Star game would be played: the pension plan, athletic trainers for every team, and the removal of matinee Sunday games after Saturday night games from the schedule. After 22 minutes of the players holding out in a locker room, the door of which was guarded by a Boston police officer and with owners threatening the players with

blacklisting Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

and punishment, league commissioner Walter Kennedy agreed to the player's demands, and the live broadcast went to air after a slight delay.

Salary cap

In 1983, players and owners reach a historic agreement, that introduced the " salary cap" era into professional sports. This was believed to be the first salary cap in any major professional sports league in the United States.

1995 NBA labor dispute

The NBA experienced its first work stoppage, when owners imposed a lockout, that lasted from July 1 through September 12, when players and owners reached an agreement. Because the lockout took place during the off-season, no games were lost.

1998–99 lockout

The second NBA lockout, which ran into the 1998–99 season, lasted almost 200 days, and wiped out 464 regular-season games. After players and owners reached an agreement, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, with each of the 29 NBA teams playing a 50-game schedule.

2011 lockout

The current

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

was reached in July 2005, and expired at 12:01 EST on July 1, 2011, following completion of the 2010–11 NBA season, resulting in a lockout, similar to the 2011 NFL lockout.

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

has reported that the owners and players failed to reach an agreement and broke off negotiations, and that the owners began a lockout immediately after the collective bargaining agreement expired. On November 14, the NBPA was converted from a union into a

, enabling the players as individual employees to be represented by lawyers in a class action antitrust lawsuit against the league, calling the lockout an illegal group

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict so ...

. The NBPA re-formed as a union on December 1, receiving support from over 300 players, exceeding the requirement for at least 260. After the players and owners reached a new agreement, the lockout ended on December 8 and the 2011–12 season began on December 25 with a 66-game schedule.

2013–present

In February 2013, Billy Hunter was ousted unanimously as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) amid charges of nepotism and other concerns. 17 months later on July 29, 2014, Michele Roberts, a Washington, D.C. litigator, was elected as the new executive director of the National Basketball Players Association. She became the first female executive director of NBPA and the first woman to head a major professional sports union in North America.NBA Players Union NBPA elects Michele Roberts as executive director
/ref> She would help avoid an opt-out labor dispute from occurring in 2017 with negotiations taking place early in 2016. In February 2018 at All-Star Weekend, the NBPA unveiled its new marketing and licensing arm, THINK450, the innovation engine of the NBPA. The union controls the intellectual property rights of the 450 players as a group off the court, giving way for brand partnerships and sponsorship opportunities. After the season had been suspended earlier in the year, on June 5, 2020, the NBPA approved negotiations with the NBA to resume the regular season for 22 teams in the NBA Bubble. During the 2020 NBA Finals, NBPA President

Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and “The Point God”, is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Paul is widely regarded as one o ...

announced that over 90% of NBA players had registered to vote for the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: ** ...

. He also stated that 15 teams in the league were 100% registered to vote. By contrast, the league only had 20% of players registered to vote in the 2016 presidential election. The players took multiple actions in the NBA Bubble: writing phrases or names on the back of their jerseys to support the Black Lives Matter movement, boycotting games in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, and taking a knee during the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

to protest against

racial inequality Social inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. It posses and creates gender c ...

and

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to ...

Leadership

Executive directors

Alex English, Visitante Ilustre (14935074624) (cropped)

* Larry Fleisher (1970–1988) * Charles Grantham (1988–1995) * Simon Gourdine (1995–1996) *

Alex English Alexander English (born January 5, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and businessman. A South Carolina native, English played college basketball at the University of South Carolina. He was drafted in the second ...

(1996, interim) * Billy Hunter (1996–2013) * Michele Roberts (2014–2021) * Tamika Tremaglio (2021-present)

Presidents

* Bob Cousy (1954–1958) *

(1958–1965) * Oscar Robertson (1965–1974) * Paul Silas (1974–1980) *

Bob Lanier Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who was a center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted in ...

(1980–1985) * Junior Bridgeman (1985 – February 1988) *

(February 1988 – October 5, 1988) *

Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas III (born April 30, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is an analyst for '' NBA TV''. The 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History as well as the 75 Gr ...

(October 5, 1988 – February 13, 1994) * Buck Williams (February 13, 1994 – September 15, 1997) * Patrick Ewing (September 15, 1997 – July 10, 2001) * Michael Curry (July 10, 2001 – June 28, 2005) * Antonio Davis (June 28, 2005 – November 19, 2006) *

Derek Fisher Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Fisher played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Los A ...

(November 19, 2006 – August 21, 2013) *

(August 21, 2013 – August 7, 2021) *

CJ McCollum Christian James McCollum (born September 19, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his third year in the league in 2015–16, he was named the NBA Mos ...

(August 7, 2021 – present)

Vice presidents

;Past * Roger Mason Jr. (August 21, 2013 – June 23, 2017) * Steve Blake (August 21, 2013 – June 23, 2017) * Kyle Korver (February 12, 2016 – June 23, 2017) * Carmelo Anthony (June 23, 2017 – February 18, 2019) *

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...

(June 23, 2017 – February 18, 2019) *

Pau Gasol Pau Gasol Sáez (, ; born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA team selection, twice on the second team and twice on the third team. Gasol won two NBA champion ...

(June 23, 2017 – February 17, 2020) *

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

(June 23, 2017 – February 2, 2020) *

(February 18, 2018 – August 7, 2021) ;Current *

Andre Iguodala Andre Tyler Iguodala ( ; born January 28, 1984) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The swingman was an NBA All-Star in 2012 and has been named to th ...

(June 23, 2017 – present) * Garrett Temple (June 23, 2017 – present) *

Bismack Biyombo Bismack Biyombo Sumba (born August 28, 1992) is a Congolese professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Sacramento Ki ...

(February 18, 2019 – present) * Jaylen Brown (February 18, 2019 – present) *

Malcolm Brogdon Malcolm Moses Adams Brogdon (born December 11, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers under Tony Bennett. As ...

(February 18, 2019 – present) * Kyrie Irving (February 17, 2020 – present) * Grant Williams (August 7, 2021 – present) First vice president

Secretary-treasurers

James Jones James Jones may refer to: Sports Association football *James Jones (footballer, born 1873) (1873–1955), British Olympic footballer * James Jones (footballer, born 1996), Scottish footballer for Wrexham * James Jones (footballer, born 1997), We ...

(c. 2014 – July 18, 2017) * Anthony Tolliver (February 17, 2018 – March 5, 2021) * Harrison Barnes (March 5, 2021 – present)

Initiatives

The NBPA organizes Sportscaster U., an annual broadcasting training camp at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in association with the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. In past ten years, hundreds of NBA players have attended this camp, and went on to successful careers in broadcasting.

Awards

References

External links

* {{Authority control

Players Association The Players Association was a New York based studio group, put together by drummer/arranger Chris Hills and producer Danny Weiss in 1977 on Vanguard Records. Overview The Players Association recordings brought in leading jazz session musicians ...

Sports trade unions of the United States Trade unions established in 1954