During the long and drawn out NBA lockout, former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Derek Fisher was the voice and face of the players in the battle for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Along with being a five-time NBA champion and basketball star in Los Angeles, Fisher has contributed just as much off the court as he has on it as NBA Player’s Union President. This was never more apparent than it was during the negotiations between the players and owners during the off-season.
Despite all Fisher has done for the NBPA over the years and during the NBA lockout, it appears that Fisher has been asked to resign by union executive director Billy Hunter and the NBPA executive committee, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
Fisher has flatly refused to step down and has been working to gather a coalition of players to challenge Hunter’s business and financial practices, sources told Yahoo! Sports. Fisher has told peers he will not resign, but rather fight Hunter for further transparency regarding the NBPA.
This showdown has been building for months and escalated in the past week when Fisher initially convinced the executive committee to vote for an independent auditor to look into Hunter’s regime. Nevertheless, Hunter helped to convince the eight members of the committee to change course and turn on Fisher.
The news of Fisher being asked to resign comes after the NBPA President was pulling for an audit of the finances of the union. This obviously did sit well with the union or Hunter, and as a result Fisher is now on the hot seat.
It is a shame it had to come down like this after everything Fisher sacrificed and went through to get the NBA back to playing games this season. Not only did the constant travel and seemingly endless discussions with the league take its toll on the veteran point guard, but the five-time champ also had to deal with being traded by the Lakers only two and half months into the season.
Even if Fisher is ultimately forced to step down as union President, there is no question that he has a future in a similar position after basketball and will almost certainly rebound from this bump in the road.
