Billy Hunter Calls For Derek Fisher To Be Fired From NBPA
Here Comes The Knife
The National Basketball Players Association executive committee voted to work toward the resignation of union president Derek Fisher, at executive director Billy Hunter’s suggestion.
Fisher has refused to give up his post and previously worked to gather a group to look into Hunter’s business and financial practices. With no intent to resign, Fisher plans to instead push Hunter to operate with more transparency. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard has more than two years left in his term as NBPA president.
Mistrust between the two has festered for months and reached a high point when Fisher convinced the executive committee to vote for an independent auditor to look into Hunter’s time as executive director.
Hunter later convinced the committee to focus in on Fisher, though Hunter hasn’t been in good favor with players and agents following huge concessions to the NBA owners during lockout negotiations.
Hunter’s legal team sent players a memo stating that the audit had been cancelled because it was found to be irrelevant.
“The executive committee recognized that the review was unnecessary since there had been a recent independent audit of the NBPA’s finances which raised no issues,” the memo said.
Hunter managed to convince the executive committee that Fisher’s push for an audit was rooted in a personal rift that has grown between Hunter and Fisher since the NBA Lockout. The committee includes such players as Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul, Washington Wizards guards Maurice Evans and Roger Mason, Boston Celtics guard Keyon Dooling and San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner.
