NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter “utilized union funds to support former NBA forward Charles Smith's attempt to overthrow the National Basketball Retired Players Association,” and the move was “one of several maneuvers that inspired union president Derek Fisher to call for a business review of the union's activity,” according to sources cited by Ric Bucher of ESPN.com. Smith was “ousted as NBRPA executive director in the fall of 2010 after pursuing deals that violated its existing group licensing agreements without executive committee approval.” Sources said that the NBPA's support of Smith “resulted in the players' union withholding its annual contribution of $300,000 to the retired players during the height of the dispute and hiring the law firm Blitman-King to work on his behalf.” Bucher wrote the “question in supporting Smith so aggressively is whether the players' union had any business picking sides and using its resources to undermine an organization meant to serve its constituents in the future.” In addition, the hiring of late NBPA General Counsel Gary Hall, a “close friend of Hunter's for more than 30 years, prompted accusations of cronyism from several player agents because no formal job search was conducted.” Hall died last spring. Sources confirmed that the players' union is “currently being investigated by the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan” (ESPN.com, 5/22).
