1) BAA and NBL merge to form the NBA (1949)

From 1946 to 1949, the Basketball Association of American (BAA) and National Basketball League (NBL) were in direct competition with each other for the country’s top talent. While the BAA could offer (relative) stability and the chance to play in the biggest markets like New York, the earning potential was also limited by the league’s salary cap, which was set at $55,000 in ’46-’47. Joe Fulks, by far the biggest star in the BAA’s first season, made a salary of just $8,000 per year from the Philadelphia Warriors, the equivalent of about $125,000 today. Hardly a pittance by any means but a far cry from the current salary structure, where the NBA minimum contract now exceeds $1 million per season. Plus, that was the going rate for the league’s scoring champ, while most BAA players were making only half that amount. Where the NBL lacked the big city prestige of the BAA, it made up for it in offering bigger salary opportunities, with superstars like George Mikan and Bob Davies making up to $15,000 per season. This also allowed players to leverage the rivalry between the leagues to negotiate higher going rates. But all of that went away in 1949, when the BAA and NBL merged to form the NBA. There were numerous factors at play but the ability to cap player earning power was certainly chief amongst them for the ownership cohort. With other rival leagues like the ABL flailing, the only remaining option for basketball players was to retain their amateur status, take a job at a company like Goodyear, and play for their AAU company team. It’s no wonder so many of the mid-level and below players in the early days of the NBA opted to retire to pursue more lucrative careers in job markets like banking, sales, and dentistry.

2) Bob Cousy organizes the National Basketball Players Association (1955)

His incredible play on the court is what got Cousy inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame, but arguably his biggest contribution to the NBA came at the bargaining table, as the founder of the Players Association. The effort took its toll on the Celtics legend, who was not only striking up a battle against ownership and the league office but also had to exert pressure on his fellow players to organize and hold strong through negotiations. But as a result, the Players Association was recognized by the NBA in 1957, almost a full decade before any other major pro sports trade union. Cousy had first presented his list of terms to commissioner Maurice Podoloff during the 1957 All-Star break. Those notably included back pay for players from folded franchises, per diem for travel expenses, moving expenses for traded players, an arbitration committee for player-owner disputes, and a decrease in exhibition games. The league agreed to these conditions as part of its recognition of the union but Cousy resigned from his position soon after. Not with frustration over negotiations but rather the insouciance of most of his fellow players, who often couldn’t even be bothered to pay their union dues. 

3) Players threaten to strike the All-Star Game due to lack of a pension plan (1964)

“Tell Bob Short to go fuck himself.” That was the message from Elgin Baylor in the locker room when Short, the Lakers owner, threatened retribution if his star player didn’t emerge and play in the 1964 All-Star Game. It was a flashpoint in a tense stand-off between the All-Stars, who were threatening to boycott the game unless the league agreed to their terms on a pension plan, and the owners, who were sweating out a potential embarrassment on live national television. It was also a culmination of six years of work from Tom Heinsohn, who took over as Players Association president in 1958 when Bob Cousy stepped down. Heinsohn was a perfect replacement, with a passionate and organized approach indicative of his background as the son of a New Jersey union official. His primary focus was a player pension, to be funded by the owners and league. When new commissioner Walter J. Kennedy wouldn’t budge, Heinsohn recognized the All-Star Game as a perfect leverage point, as it was scheduled to be the first such game televised live across the country. Sure enough, Kennedy and the owners caved, agreeing to adopt a pension plan in which they would collectively contribute 50% of funds. Heinsohn remained as president for another two years before giving way to Oscar Robertson.

4) Rick Barry signs with the Oakland Oaks of the ABA (1967)

Player-owner relations remained tense for years in the wake of the near 1964 All-Star Game strike and the situation was exacerbated by the founding of the ABA. For the first time in almost two decades, the NBA had a legitimate threat to its pro basketball supremacy and the fledgling league levied its first big shot across the bow when Barry defected in 1967. The superstar was coming off a ’66-’67 season in which he won the scoring title and led the Warriors to a surprise NBA Finals appearance. But he was also displeased with his contract situation and ownership’s refusal to rectify his concerns. In the age before free agency, there was little recourse for disgruntled players so Barry quickly took advantage of the new league, signing with the cross-town Oakland Oaks. It likely helped that Oakland’s coach was Bruce Hale, who was not only Barry’s head coach at Miami (FL) but also his father-in-law. The Warriors successfully sued Barry for breach of contract, forcing him to sit out the entire ’67-’68 season. Most players of the era would have likely given in and quietly returned to the NBA but Barry was forthright, eventually playing four seasons of his prime in the ABA, two with the Oaks (who moved to Washington in 1969 and became the Capitals) and two with the New York Nets. His willingness to test those waters was a big win for NBA player rights and helped trigger the league’s next major labor battle.

5) Oscar Robertson sues the NBA to block a merger with the ABA (1970)

As the ABA quickly began poaching existing stars like Rick Barry and emergent young talent like Mel Daniels, it was clear to the NBA league office that a threat to its bottom line was imminent. Negotiations were opened to merge with the ABA, a reality that seemed inevitable as early as 1970. But the NBPA and its president Robertson had other ideas, suing the league to block the merger under the premise that it restricted player movement. This was specifically an attack on the option clause, which allowed NBA franchises to exert ownership rights over player’s contracts in perpetuity due to the lack of free agency. The formation of the ABA had allowed some reprieve for NBA players to seek alternative methods of contract negotiation but a merger would pop a hole in that escape raft. Robertson himself was surely a righteous advocate for free range movement of players, having spent the entire ‘60s stuck on a mismanaged Cincinnati Royals franchise, playing in front of a largely racist fanbase. In his capacity as Players Association president, Robertson had already negotiated several key concessions from the league office and ownership group, including an increase in minimum salaries, a limitation on exhibition and regular season games, and improvements in player medical and insurance benefits. The lawsuit dragged on for several years, finally getting settled in 1975, allowing an NBA-ABA merger one year later. Over the course of that saga, Robertson had been traded to the Bucks, won a championship, stepped down as NBPA president (replaced by Paul Silas), and retired. Under pressure from the lawsuit, the NBA agreed to institute a free agency system, albeit a limited, restricted one.

6) Spencer Haywood signs with the SuperSonics (1970)

While Oscar Robertson was waging war against the NBA for free agency status, Haywood was locked in a battle of wills over draft eligibility. Soon after the inception of the BAA in 1946, the league had instituted a regulation that draft declaration was limited to players at least four years removed from high school graduation. That still stood in 1968, when Haywood was 19 years old and ineligible at all the major colleges due to academic standards. The ABA swooped in soon after by instituting a hardship clause wherein franchises could draft or sign players not yet eligible if they could prove “financial hardship.” Haywood signed with the Denver Rockets and absolutely dominated the ABA in ’69-’70, as NBA owners salivated at the thought of signing him for the ’71-’72 season once he was eligible. But SuperSonics owner Sam Schulman skirted the rules and signed Haywood early, in December of 1970, while promising to cover all legal fees. Lawsuits did ensue, including Haywood suing the NBA for anti-trust violations. The case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where Haywood won, forcing the NBA to institute its own version of the hardship clause regarding draft eligibility. A few years later, that clause was dropped as part of the NBA-ABA merger, meaning that any high school graduate was NBA eligible going forward.

7) The National Basketball Referees Association union is formed and votes to strike during the upcoming playoffs (1977)

On the final day of the ’76-’77 NBA season, all but two of the league’s veteran referees stashed away their whistle and picked up a picket sign. It was in response to the league office’s refusal to recognize the National Basketball Referees Association, an unofficial union that had been chartered four years prior. Going on strike on the eve of the 1977 playoffs made the union official and forced commissioner Larry O’Brien to the bargaining table. The terms that were discussed included an arbitration board to handle referee firings, severance pay, new insurance benefits, increased travel per diems, and, of course, a salary raise. When these talks initially stalled, the NBA was forced to bring in replacement referees for most of the postseason first round. After a couple weeks of standoffs, a collective bargaining agreement was struck that included a salary increase for the remainder of the 1977 playoffs. When that CBA expired in 1983, the referees went on strike again and with new tactics, notably including picketing in-and-around Madison Square Garden during a Knicks preseason game, handing out whistles to spectators to disrupt replacement referees. Further referee strikes happened in 1995 and 2009, though neither impacted regular season or postseason games, with both being settled during the preseason.

8) Collective bargaining agreement is signed that includes a salary cap and a substance abuse policy (1983)

Once the NBA and ABA merged in 1976, things become relatively quiet on the labor front, especially compared to the huge gains the players had made previously in the decade on free agency and draft eligibility. But the league itself was in turmoil, with several franchises in financial straits, a lack of marketable star power, and an increasing public backlash to a player base perceived as drug-addled, coddled, and “thuggish.” At the center of this brewing storm were NBPA president Bob Lanier and league executive vice president David Stern. The pair intertwined in 1983, when a collective bargaining agreement was finalized that included major victories for both sides. On the player end, threats of a strike paid off in the form of 253 guaranteed salaries even if the league reduced franchises (a real threat at the time, with the Kings, Clippers, Cavaliers, and Jazz nearing potential insolvency), and a cut of 53 to 57 percent of gross revenue. For the league office and owners, the good news was a salary cap, an elimination of no-trade clauses in contracts, and a stringent new substance abuse policy, a first of its kind amongst the major U.S. pro sports leagues. That last addendum paid immediate dividends in terms of the league’s reputation and was arguably the biggest catalyst for Stern getting named commissioner a year later when Larry O’Brien stepped down.

“Even in retrospect, it sounds like something out of a movie parodying the excesses of American capitalism. But it was real and it was approved by not just 29 of the 30 owners … but the Players Association as well”

9) NBA Draft is reduced to two rounds (1988)

1988 was a watershed year for NBA player rights, as two long-standing tools of ownership power were finally eliminated at the end of lengthy battles that began in the early ‘70s with Oscar Robertson and Spencer Haywood. First was the long overdue instituting of unrestricted free agency, finally allowing players to sign with any team once their contract had ended, without compensation for their previous franchise. Second was a reduction of the NBA Draft from 10 rounds to two. In the beginning, the NBA Draft had been technically unlimited, with teams allowed to continue selecting picks indefinitely. This was initially capped at 10 rounds in 1974 but having 10 picks still gave owners extra levers of control over player movement, as the lack of free agency prevented draftees from exerting any leverage in contract negotiations. A reduction to two rounds wasn’t much of a victory for star players, who were going to get drafted anyway, but was a huge improvement for secondary players who could now negotiate freely after going un-drafted. Of course, there was an ulterior motive here as well for the league office, which had negotiated television rights for the draft starting earlier in the decade and was now looking to improve that offering with a cleaner, more concise product.

10) Amidst a lockout and testy negotiations, a players union de-certifying threat emerges (1995)

For its first 40 years of existence, the NBA Players Association members maintained a crucial front of solidarity. It wasn’t until tumultuous negotiations during the ’94-’95 season that a public rift began to appear, one that included the game’s biggest star. 1994 was a landmark year for U.S. sports labor events, with the MLB cancelling the World Series for the first time ever due to a player strike, while the NHL season was delayed and ultimately reduced significantly as the result of an owner lockout. Amidst this tense atmosphere, the the NBPA and league owners reached an uneasy accord to play out the ’94-’95 season without a collective bargaining agreement, with the understanding that negotiations would progress through the year. Instead, talks stalled and a lockout officially started once the Rockets defeated the Magic in the NBA Finals. When NBPA president Buck Williams and executive director Simon Gourdine finally did negotiate a new agreement that summer, the terms were heavily favorable towards owners, with a rookie salary cap and a luxury tax. A group of players led by Patrick Ewing and Michael Jordan balked at the agreement, beginning efforts to instead de-certify the union so that the players could sue the league under anti-trust law. But they were ultimately ineffectual, with the players voting overwhelmingly not to de-certify and soon after ratifying the agreement, with some concessions, including that the luxury tax was stricken and “Bird Rights” were added.

11) The first ever work stoppage in NBA history, as the owners institute a lockout (1998)

As the NBA exploded in popularity and revenue throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, commissioner David Stern was hailed as a league savior and tactical genius. But by the late ‘90s, the honeymoon was over. Michael Jordan had retired, television ratings were at risk, up to half the franchises in the league were reportedly losing money (a dubious figure that the league itself extolled), and the owners voted to re-open CBA negotiations. Their concerns were similar to what had caused the lockout three years prior, with negotiations revolving around changes to the salary cap and its various loopholes, especially the “Bird Rights” clause and rookie pay scales. Possibly emboldened by their victory in 1995, when the union was split and even considered de-certification, the owners pressed their luck, instituting a lockout immediately after the 1998 NBA Finals to pressure the NBPA to the negotiating table. It didn’t quite work as intended but the pressure did ramp up exponentially, especially once games began getting cancelled and an independent arbitrator ruled that the owners did not need to honor salaries for those postponed games. Stern was newly emboldened as well, even going so far as threatening to bring in scab replacements to play out the schedule. It marked the first time in NBA history that a labor stoppage impacted the game schedule and with public opinion turned against them, the players splintered and eventually folded. The terms were a huge win for the owners, with a cap on individual salaries, an installation of the luxury tax, a rookie pay scale, and an expansion of the league’s drug policy, including marijuana testing.

12) A dress code is unveiled for NBA players (2005)

His substance abuse policy was obviously implemented to battle negative public perceptions of NBA superstars, and two decades later, David Stern ran the same controversial playbook with his dress code. Though the landscape and vibe was much different in 2005 than it had been in 1983, there were some obvious parallels. The convergence of the NBA and hip-hop culture was peaking, as personified by Allen Iverson, while the 2004 “Malice at the Palace” was the league’s biggest public relations crisis since the 1998 lockout. Though Stern would never admit his dress code was in direct response to these factors, the language used was certainly strong evidence. Players were specifically banned from wearing all of the standard markers of hip-hop street wear, including sleeveless shirts, jeans, ‘do-rags, chain necklaces, and sunglasses. The biggest difference between 1983 and 2005 was that the dress code had an immediate and authoritative backlash, not just from the players but from fans and the media decrying the rules as racist and agist. But ultimately the most interesting thing about the dress code was how quickly it became a non-issue. With the then newer generation of stars like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Kevin Durant so image-conscious and brand savvy, the need for a dress code was soon rendered almost quaint.

13) The owners institute a lockout, again (2011)

The vibe differential between the substance abuse policy and dress code can also be applied to the two major NBA lockouts. In 1998, public opinion was easily swayed to the side of the league office, which David Stern took advantage of in negotiations. But by 2011, America’s public perception of labor and capital had shifted, albeit subtly. This was a new world post 2008 financial crash, with Barack Obama in office and Occupy Wall Street happening concurrently. But even with those improved conditions, the players arguably were defeated again at the negotiating table. Their 57% share of league revenue, so shrewdly negotiated in the 1983 agreement, was reduced to a paltry 51%. The owners also received a one-time amnesty clause and a reduction in maximum contract lengths. Players rightfully criticized it as the owners looking to the league to clean up their mistakes. This was especially true of Michael Jordan, whose hypocritical militantly pro-owner stance in 2011 ran completely counter to his 1995 player negotiations. The players did get a few concessions, most notably the “Derrick Rose Rule,” which guaranteed larger contracts for young superstars who met a series of criteria. Whether it’s due to the owners still considering this a sizable victory, or the players improving their negotiations after, 2011 still stands as the last happenstance of an NBA regular season being delayed due to labor activity.

14) Donald Sterling is forced to sell the Clippers (2014)

“There’s no room for Donald Sterling in the NBA.” That was the LeBron James sound bite that likely doomed the embattled Clippers owner. James was responding to a leaked tape on which Sterling was heard making racist remarks, including some indirectly about his own Clippers players. It took a few days for newly appointed commissioner Adam Silver to act but he did so decisively, fining Sterling $2.5 million and banning him from the league for life. Maybe this was Silver’s plan all along but there’s no doubt his resolution was precipitated by labor action. It was not only James and numerous other superstars making their feelings known about Sterling, who had spent most of adulthood doing despicable things well before this incident. It was also the open threat from Clippers players to boycott one or more games in their ongoing playoff series with the Warriors, whose roster was also prepared to step aside in solidarity. Pair that with sponsors fleeing in droves, and Silver had little choice but to come down harshly on Sterling, who subsequently levied the largest lawsuit ever against the NBA. When that lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms, Sterling quietly stepped aside and allowed for the Clippers to be sold to Steve Ballmar, marking a new era in the franchise’s history.

15) League owners and players negotiate return to play during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020)

When news broke in June of 2020 that the NBA would be resuming its season in an isolated “bubble” on the campus of Walt Disney World, you’d be excused for assuming it was a COVID-induced fever dream. Even in retrospect, it sounds like something out of a movie parodying the excesses of American capitalism. But it was real and it was approved by not just 29 of the 30 owners (only the Trail Blazers abstained), but the Players Association as well, leading to protocols and schedules being crafted for return to play. Many high profile players were skeptical of the idea of restarting the season not just during a pandemic but also a period of social unrest caused by numerous violent police killings. Stars like Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, and Donovan Mitchell were publicly critical on the potential for infection, injury, and distraction from important issues. So why did the Players Association so swiftly agree to the bubble? They were hamstrung by a force majeure clause in the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which allowed the league to withhold player pay for games cancelled due to an “act of god.” When the owners triggered that clause in April of 2020, negotiating a 25% pay cut for the players starting in May, it forced the union’s hand on agreement to resumption of games. In the end, despite the league granting all players a voluntary opt out, all the biggest stars ventured to Orlando to participate.

16) Bucks players spearhead a “Bubble” strike (2020)

On August 23, 2020, just as the Clippers and Mavericks were playing an overtime thriller in the “Bubble,” Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, just south of Milwaukee. It was sadly just one of numerous police violence incidents across the U.S. that summer, and set off several days of civil unrest. Two days later, the Bucks and Magic were scheduled to play game five of their first round series but tip-off time came and went without Milwaukee’s players leaving their locker room. Team captain George Hill eventually emerged and explained that the Bucks refused to take the court in protest of the recent police violence and lack of accountability. The Bucks opted to forfeit the game but the Magic did not accept. When the other teams scheduled to play later that day also stated their strike intentions, commissioner Adam Silver suspended all games indefinitely. During a heated players-only meeting that evening, LeBron James reportedly led a walkout of numerous high profile players, signaling their intention to sit out the remainder of the season and depart the Disney World campus. But a phone call from Barack Obama apparently changed James’ mind, and he soon after agreed to remain and finish play. After three days of cancellations, play resumed on August 28. It was a satisfying end for Obama and NBA fans who wanted to watch the rest of the season, but truly a disappointing outcome amidst an era where labor and capital are at increasing odds from each other in America. A full-on, high profile players strike with actionable results could have been a real turning point in American labor relations, but alas we’ll never know for sure.

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