HoopsHype.com Rumors

Liz Mullen: Source close to Don Fehr: "In the future, should the basketball players seek his guidance due to his vast sports union experience..." (2/3) Twitter @SBJLizMullen

NBPA, Don Fehr 

Liz Mullen: Source close to Don Fehr: "...there is little doubt Don would provide that, but he won't be leaving his position at the NHLPA." (3/3) Twitter @SBJLizMullen

NBPA, Don Fehr 

As NBA players prepare to make a decision on union chief Billy Hunter's future at All-Star weekend in Houston in less than two weeks, several influential agents already are privately discussing a possible successor: longtime sports union leader Don Fehr. Fehr, currently the executive director of the NHL Players Association, is the early preferred pick among multiple agents with enough clout to sway a significant portion of union membership, CBSSports.com has learned. CBSSports.com

Billy Hunter, NBPA, Don Fehr 

But Fehr's firebrand leadership -- and his successful challenge of collusion among baseball owners in the 1980s -- is precisely what a small but powerful group of hawkish agents is seeking in a new leader to engage NBA commissioner-elect Adam Silver in the next round of collective bargaining. Each side can opt out of the current CBA -- ratified after a 149-day lockout in 2011 -- on July 1, 2017. "He's the guy," one of the influential agents said. "He is somebody who would be formidable," another agent said. "He would go tooth-and-nail on everything." CBSSports.com

Billy Hunter, NBPA, Don Fehr