NBPA committee cancels internal audit
In a pushback against National Basketball Players Association president Derek Fisher, union executive director Billy Hunter convinced members of the NBPA's executive committee to kill an independent audit of the union's finances and practices, Yahoo! Sports has learned.
Hunter had his legal team send a brief memo to players Tuesday night, telling them the audit voted upon on Friday by the executive committee had been cancelled. The memo was obtained by Yahoo! Sports.
Fisher had pushed for an internal audit of Hunter's New York offices, and gathered the necessary votes on a conference call Friday to proceed with the inquiry, sources said.
"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 NBPA's memo said.
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Acrimony had grown between Hunter and Fisher during the NBA's lockout, with players choosing sides between the two. Players with knowledge of the dispute told Yahoo! Sports that Hunter convinced the executive committee – which includes, among other players, Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul, Washington Wizards guards Maurice Evans and Roger Mason and Boston Celtics guard Keyon Dooling – that Fisher's push for an audit had no merit, and that it was inspired by personal animus.
Fisher, a veteran guard with the Oklahoma City Thunder, has more than two years left on his appointment as NBPA president. Hunter has three-plus years left on his contract.
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