Today, by unanimous vote of the executive committee and player representatives, the National Basketball Players Association disclaimed its status as your collective bargaining representative. As a result, we will now function as a trade association to assist and support NBA players
• As mentioned, we cannot engage in collective bargaining with the owners.
• We can no longer assert any labor law rights on behalf of players, and we will be withdrawing our unfair labor practice charge before the National Labor Relations Board.
• We can no longer prosecute individual grievances on behalf of players. We will communicate in the future regarding the status of any pending grievances or appeals.
• We can no longer regulate agents. Our status in regulating agents derives from our authority under the National Labor Relations Act as the players' bargaining representative. With that status ended, likewise our agent regulation program is terminated.
The NBPA will always be here to assist individual players in asserting your rights outside of the labor laws and to improve business conditions of all professional basketball players in the NBA. So, for example, among other things, we will seek to:
• Engage in group licensing activities;
• Create opportunities for players to enhance off-court income;
• Enable and encourage players to engage in charitable and civic activities to benefit both your fellow citizens and your communities;
