Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY reports LeBron James will not run for NBPA President this summer, citing sources close to James. James had previously expressed interest publicly in running for the now-vacant position with Derek Fisher's term having expired.
This weekend he expressed some criticism toward the union's direction telling Brian Windhosrt of ESPN.com that "The union is going backwards and is not in a good place right now." James though, both in Zillgitt's original report and the one that came out Monday, said he would not commit to the position or a position on the executive committee unless he could give it 100 percent of his attention. The source told Zillgitt that James does not feel he can devote the attention necessary to the position at this point in his career.
James would have given the union an incredible amount of power as having the best player in teh game in the bargaining room would certainly carry some weight in negotiations with the owners in future collective bargaining sessions. That would have been the advantage of having James in the lead chair, one would think.
James has been fairly active with the NBPA, having attended meetings during All-Star Weekend and publicly taking an interest in the union's affairs. He has never been a team representative however and has never served on the executive committee. There is something of an information gap then.
Jerry Stackhouse, the first vice president and the acting-president of the NBPA at the moment, criticized James for speaking so candidly and negatively about the union's current situation. Stackhouse spoke with Ken Berger of CBS Sports and called James' remarks "misinformed."
Stackhouse told Berger he hopes James will continue to be involved with the union and attend meetings in Las Vegas later this summer. The NBPA has come under fire for a lack of union participation in affairs. It is believed to be one of the reasons there was a failure of oversight which led to some improper actions from former NBPA executive director Billy Hunter.
The union will have a lot of business to attend to in its annual meeting this summer.
