Founding and struggle for recognition (1954–1957) In 1954, Celtics star
point guard 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 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 Podoloff granted back pay for players of folded franchises, 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 payments and
travel expenses 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 out of frustration. Heinsohn began negotiating a pension plan for players, asking $100 per month for five years of service and $200 per month for 10 years of service for players aged over 65. the door of which was guarded by a Boston police officer and with owners threatening the players with
blacklisting 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 reached a historic agreement, that introduced the "
salary cap" era into professional sports. This was the first salary cap in any major professional sports league in the United States. (source: )
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 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 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. The primary sticking point within negotiations was the shares of Basketball Related income, player movement and the soft salary cap. Basketball Related Income or BRI is profits from ticket sales, merchandising sales, and other profits related to basketball, this revenue is split between players and the team but in initial negotiations the teams proposed a reduction players' share being from 57% to 50%. As well, with the forming of
Big Three (Miami Heat) and increased player movement towards larger market teams. This concerned smaller market teams and encouraged them to establish a hard salary cap. On November 14, the NBPA was converted from a union into a
trade association, 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. 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. 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 announced that over 90% of NBA players had registered to vote for the
2020 presidential election. 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 to protest against
racial inequality and
police brutality. ==Leadership==