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February 13, 2015LeBron James is nearly undisputed as the greatest player in the game, and now he’s making himself even more powerful. According to (who else?) Adrian Wojnarowski, LeBron James has been elected as the Vice President of the NBA player’s union under Chris Paul, who serves as the President.
Paul had been pushing James to join him in a senior position on the NBPA’s executive committee for several months, and James made himself a candidate for Friday’s union meeting in New York, sources said. The NBPA’s player representatives voted on the new executive committee members in a meeting on Friday afternoon, sources said.
The NBPA is working to reshape itself under new executive director Michele Roberts. For years, there’s been a push on the players’ side to get the league’s most prominent players into senior leadership positions. James’ elevation to first vice president is the most significant step yet in that process.
I know labor relations is one of the least fun aspects of professional sports, especially when it results in a strike or a lockout. Any kind of interruption to sports seasons where billionaires pay millionaires to play for our entertainment seems to kind of miss the point of having a distraction like sports.
At the same time, it’s hugely important that these two parties continue to push and pull to maintain a balance of power between owners and players. It’s just difficult as fans to try and be a sports fan when each side is attempting to get fans favor in the fight.
Regardless of all that, it won’t hurt the players chances to curry favor of the populous with some of the best and most powerful players in the game so actively involved as LeBron James is now willing to be.