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Your first reaction upon hearing that a 469-page report detailing the blatant corruption of Billy Hunter's tenure as executive director of the players' union was sent to every NBA player Thursday might have been: So what? No NBA player is going to bother to read 469 pages about anything.
And you'd be right. For years and years, NBA players have relied on grown men they trusted, hangers-on posing as friends, advisors with advice that benefits only them and leaders who have repeatedly let them down. I hate to be the bearer of bad news –- because the bad news came from the law firm that thoroughly eviscerated Hunter's leadership of the National Basketball Players Association on Thursday –- but it's time for all this to stop.
But while the union's numerous business entanglements with Hunter's family members was not even the headline in this exhaustive report, the probe found that the practice extended beyond family members to what it called "cronyism" involving numerous Hunter friends. Honestly, you have to read the report to enjoy the tales of "Uncle Rudy," "Cousin Nate," and various contractors who did union work after allegedly performing personal services to Hunter. At times, the report reads like it has to be fiction, like the script of an Oliver Stone movie. But it's real.
"His choices created the appearance that he operated the Union in part for the benefit of his family and friends," the report said. "… The appearance of favoritism has damaged the union."
The report also found that Hunter had spent at least $300,000 in union funds "exploring potential investments;" more than $100,000 on gifts for outgoing union presidents and other members of the executive committee, including a $22,000 watch given to union president Derek Fisher in June 2010; $28,000 for former retired players association director Charles Smith for his personal legal fees; additional cost to the union of $69,000 for flights Hunter routinely took to and from his longtime place of residence, Oakland, Calif.; and many, many other examples. The evidence went on and on. It went on for years and miles, backed up by thousands of documents, emails, travel logs -– everything the investigators could get their hands on without subpoenas.
Above all, the report called into question the validity of Hunter's employment contract, stating that "no serious question exists" that Hunter's 2011 contract extension –- worth as much as $18 million -- was not approved by the union's player representatives (one per team), in violation of the NBPA's constitution and bylaws. The report recommended that the executive committee and player reps should decide at All-Star meetings next month whether to ratify Hunter's contract retroactively or permit him to continue as executive director and properly approve a new contract.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/...speaks-for-itself-union-head-hunter-has-to-go
And you'd be right. For years and years, NBA players have relied on grown men they trusted, hangers-on posing as friends, advisors with advice that benefits only them and leaders who have repeatedly let them down. I hate to be the bearer of bad news –- because the bad news came from the law firm that thoroughly eviscerated Hunter's leadership of the National Basketball Players Association on Thursday –- but it's time for all this to stop.
But while the union's numerous business entanglements with Hunter's family members was not even the headline in this exhaustive report, the probe found that the practice extended beyond family members to what it called "cronyism" involving numerous Hunter friends. Honestly, you have to read the report to enjoy the tales of "Uncle Rudy," "Cousin Nate," and various contractors who did union work after allegedly performing personal services to Hunter. At times, the report reads like it has to be fiction, like the script of an Oliver Stone movie. But it's real.
"His choices created the appearance that he operated the Union in part for the benefit of his family and friends," the report said. "… The appearance of favoritism has damaged the union."
The report also found that Hunter had spent at least $300,000 in union funds "exploring potential investments;" more than $100,000 on gifts for outgoing union presidents and other members of the executive committee, including a $22,000 watch given to union president Derek Fisher in June 2010; $28,000 for former retired players association director Charles Smith for his personal legal fees; additional cost to the union of $69,000 for flights Hunter routinely took to and from his longtime place of residence, Oakland, Calif.; and many, many other examples. The evidence went on and on. It went on for years and miles, backed up by thousands of documents, emails, travel logs -– everything the investigators could get their hands on without subpoenas.
Above all, the report called into question the validity of Hunter's employment contract, stating that "no serious question exists" that Hunter's 2011 contract extension –- worth as much as $18 million -- was not approved by the union's player representatives (one per team), in violation of the NBPA's constitution and bylaws. The report recommended that the executive committee and player reps should decide at All-Star meetings next month whether to ratify Hunter's contract retroactively or permit him to continue as executive director and properly approve a new contract.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/...speaks-for-itself-union-head-hunter-has-to-go
