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Hunter was removed by the NBPA for a variety of reasons, which included nepotism. And he claims that Fisher and Kobe Bryant were negotiating CBA deals with Stern personally, a claim Fisher denies. But 15 years later, the league having grown exponentially financially with many earning generational wealth, the legacy of Hunter could be viewed differently. He said he doesn’t care about legacies, but he told the Globe he negotiated arduously for his players and foresaw the league’s growth. “I hear from players from time to time,” Hunter told the Globe. “They call me. I was up at Harvard [for a basketball event] and a guy came over with me and said, ‘You’re the Black man that created more Black millionaires than anybody else in the history of the country.’ And I just kind of chuckled. I said, ‘Yeah, I guess,’ you know. “And so I’ve gotten that from time to time from people — people who kind of understand the game, understand the economics of the game, and said that, you know, I should be credited for all the millionaires, black millionaires, I created.”
Hunter and Stern were considered adversaries but were privately close friends, two lawyers who fiercely represented their respective sides. And in those days, the owners and the players were from completely different worlds. There appeared to be a disconnect between players who were embracing the hip-hop era and player empowerment, and owners who wanted to keep the league the way it was during the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird-Jordan years. “We got along well with one another,” Hunter said of Stern. “It was funny, the only difficult time was when we had to negotiate a contract. The reality is that we could have been much closer friends than we were. We were close professionally. We were respectful of one another, etc. But he and I could have been real friends, but for the fact that every couple years I was going to have to negotiate a deal, and it was like boxers, you know, you go into your corner, yes. “So that’s how it worked. But, you know, David was not going to hurt or damage the league. Yes, you know he was going to do his job and the negotiations were not easy. He didn’t give me anything. We got what I was able to demand through the players. He realized, or they realized, the confidence that the players had in me at the time and that the players hung in there.”
Hunter believes many of the league’s owners wanted him out because he was a troublemaker and hard negotiator, and perhaps they did not want Hunter sparring with the more amicable Silver, who took over for the retired Stern. “My understanding at the time was that the reason why they were moving on from me was because of the fact that it was not a good deal,” he said. “That was what was represented. But I think it was more that, behind the scenes, the owners were moving to get me out of that position, that I had been too much of a problem, you know, and that’s why.”
The lawsuit also lists James’ entertainment companies — The Springhill Company and Uninterrupted Canada — as defendants along with Dreamcrew Entertainment, the entertainment firm of Drake, whose birth name is Aubrey Graham, and Future (legal name Adel Nur), and the Fostys’ publishing firm, Stryker Indigo and First Take Entertainment, a film production company.
The Hunter suit accuses the Fostys and their publishing firm of breach of contract and the James and Drake teams of “tortious interference.” The suit says the “Uninterrupted Defendants” — Team LeBron — offered the Fostys $100,000 to acquire the “already optioned” rights to produce a documentary about the “Black Ice” story and agreed to pay the authors 3% of the total movie budget.
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The court papers said the James team then sought the backing of additional investors, specifically, Dreamcrew Entertainment, which is a co-venture between Drake and Future.
“While the defendants LeBron James, Drake and Maverick Carter [LeBron’s business partner] are internationally known and renowned in their respective fields of basketball and music, it does not afford them the right to steal another’s intellectual property,” says the suit filed by Billy Hunter’s attorney, Larry Hutcher.
James was adamantly against the NBA having an All-Star Game in Atlanta, as well. It gave the perception that Roberts was making decisions without the input of the players, if the biggest name in the game was barking the loudest and doing it quite often. But Roberts wasn’t sending off group texts and telling 450 players or so to just roll with her decisions. Chris Paul is the head of the union, and is close with James, so it’s tough to see James being blindsided in this instance. “I don't run this union. I know that people think I do,” Roberts said. “But the players know better. They run this union. That was the reason my predecessor [Billy Hunter] got fired, because on some level, they thought that he was he was unilaterally making decisions that affected them.”
Hunter was the union’s executive director from 1996 until his ousting in 2013. He was supposed to create a board for the NBPA Foundation, but didn’t, and when its first director was dismissed, Hunter essentially controlled the fine money, too. Hunter was fired by the union for a bunch of reasons, all of them outlined in the “Weiss Report,” an exhaustive analysis of all union business under Hunter’s direction. Most of the reasons had to do with his actions outside of the foundation. But, according to the report, Hunter approved a $20,000 contribution out of fine money to a charity of which he was a board member, and five other contributions, worth $33,500, to charities in Oakland, Calif., where he lived.
Falk: From the very beginning Billy Hunter was very, very opaque. He did not provide much information. He didn’t communicate much. I told my clients, “Listen, this is your livelihood and if I can’t access Billy, then you have to get involved and know what’s going on and sit down and plan out strategies on how to protect your interests.” They’re intelligent people. Patrick is a very intelligent man. Juwan Howard is a very intelligent man. Alonzo is a very intelligent man. Dikembe Mutombo is a very intelligent man. People accused me of trying to hijack the union—you couldn’t pay me a billion dollars a year to run the union. I have zero interest in doing that. But I think if I’m going to do my job for my clients, it’s important that I understand the dynamics of what’s going on. And so that’s why I had to get involved.
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Elie: A lot of the stars wanted to get back and play. I remember John Stockton in Vegas trying to speak out, and a lot of the guys just shot him down. It got a little ugly at times. Hunter: It was Stockton, Jeff Hornacek, and Adam Keefe. They got up and said we were making enough money and we should be happy with the 53 percent and take the 53 percent and this, that, and the other. McIlvaine: I remember that not being a popular sentiment. It seemed popular amongst guys with one particular owner.
McIlvaine: We once kicked Jack Haley out of a meeting because he had recently retired. He was there as a mole. Years later he told me that ownership had somebody listening on every call and knew exactly what we were strategizing. I don’t know whether this was Jack blowing smoke, but there were certain players that were sympathetic to owners. Hunter: Stern would always tell me, “I got my people everywhere. I know as much about what you’re doing as you know. I got my eyes and ears.” Clearly, I think there was someone amongst the players, but there also may have been people within my office and on staff. I have my suspicions, but I’m not going to disclose that.
Hunter: He talked to me for like 15-20 minutes. Before we hung up, he said, “Promise me you’ll call David Stern.” After he hung up, two minutes later I called David. I remember that when I called David that he was anticipating my call. I don’t know if Leonard had called beforehand and informed him that I would be calling; I didn’t leave Leonard with the impression that I would call. But David was receptive and said he wanted to get together and he was hopeful we could work something out.
Peter Vecsey: Billy Hunter’s 4½-year suit against the National Basketball Players Association regarding his alleged wrongful termination as the union’s executive director has been settled, I have learned exclusively. The $10.5 million Hunter had remaining on his contract when he was fired was being contested. Regrettably, my source is not privy to the agreed-upon out-of-court resolution reached last week. To inquire elsewhere would almost certainly tip off off the ball reporters.