Dissent Still Haunting Nba Reps

There may be labor peace between the NBA and its players, but the players’ association is still under fire from within its own ranks.

This week’s ouster of Simon Gourdine as executive director indicates a successful bid for control by a faction led by Patrick Ewing and his agent, David Falk. Ewing, along with Michael Jordan, led the unsuccessful attempt to dissolve the union during last summer’s labor strife.

Even though Gourdine managed to push a new labor deal through and turn back the decertification attempt, the faction continued to work behind the scenes to oust Gourdine.

“What happened was that after the deal went through, there was a push by David Falk to get his guys in as player reps,” said Steve Kerr, Chicago’s player representative. “There are 15 or 16 new player reps, and most are from the side that was united against Simon.”

When the assocation’s executive board awarded a two-year contract to Gourdine, Ewing started gathering signatures on a protest petition, eventually forcing Monday’s vote of players reps that decided Gourdine’s fate. With many players still unhappy about the new collective bargaining agreement and particularly the way it was negotiated, there was strong sentiment to throw Gourdine out.

Some members of the executive board, which includes the Knicks’ Charles Smith and Herb Williams, Seattle’s Detlef Schrempf and Denver’s Dikembe Mutombo, are upset that their authority was undermined by the rank-and-file.

Gourdine’s ouster is just the latest incident of turmoil within the players’ association. Last spring, then-executive director Charles Grantham was forced out by the executive board, which feared he was too hardline to reach a new labor deal.

Still to be resolved, meanwhile, is whether the players’ association will honor the contract, said to be worth more than $1 million, it so recently gave to Gourdine.

“I have a lot of respect for Simon,” Kerr said. “He didn’t have any leverage and he did the best he could. I appreciate his honesty and integrity. I’m sad for him. But if it’s what the majority of players want, then I guess it’s good for the game.”