Michele Roberts elected NBA Players’ Association’s Executive Director

Following the NBA lockout in 2011, the Executive Director of the NBA Players’ Association, Billy Hunter, came under fire.

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Many didn’t like the way Hunter handled himself during the lockout but that was far from the biggest problem. Hunter, a former Syracuse Orange and NFL wide receiver, became an attorney and was named executive director back in 1996. In 2013, NBAPA president Derek Fisher uncovered several problems with Hunter’s reign, including hiring several family members to jobs with the Players’ Association. On February 16, 2013, during the NBA All-Star break, Fisher and a select committee of NBA players unanimously voted to oust Hunter from power. Hunter sued Fisher, his publicist and the NBPA but a judge dismissed Hunter’s claims and he eventually dropped the suit. 

On Monday night in Las Vegas, the NBA offered presentations from finalists to replace Hunter as Executive Director – Washington D.C. Attorney Michele Roberts, a renowned trial lawyer, Dallas Mavericks president and CEO Terdema Ussery and the CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, Dean Garfield, were the finalists.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Roberts, who had a strong backing from Paul, won the election, receiving 32 votes and will be the next Executive Director of the NBA Player’s Association.

With Paul and the NBAPA executive committee backing Roberts, they should be happy with this decision.