NBPA files countersuit against former exec Billy Hunter

Just over a month after filing an amended wrongful-termination suit against the National Basketball Players Association, for which he served as executive director for 17 years, Billy Hunter has been countersued by the union, Ken Berger of CBS Sports reports.

The countersuit does not appear to present any novel claims. According to Berger, who obtained the document filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the union is seeking "millions of dollars" in "ill-gotten benefits" from Hunter, owing to the "willful and deliberate misconduct and breach of his fiduciary duties." This includes a retread of accusations of nepotism and misuse of NBPA funds, while again calling into question the validity of the contract extension he signed in 2010.

Hunter was deposed in 2013 after a lengthy investigation into his practices as the players' chief representative. The report from the investigation found no evidence of illegal use of union funds, but revealed that Hunter used poor judgment in the hiring process, spent improperly on travel and gifts, and withheld knowledge that his extension was never approved by the board of player representatives.

"Hunter knowingly, intentionally, and willfully failed to secure the constitutionally required approval of the 2010 Alleged Contract in order to shield such contract from scrutiny by the NBPA's highest policymaking bodies and to thereby obtain the most favorable terms and conditions of employment for his personal benefit and to the detriment of the NBPA and its membership," the countersuit alleges, according to Berger.

Hunter, meanwhile, continues to seek damages from the union for failing to honor the terms of his contract, which reportedly called for him to be paid the balance of his salary and benefits through June 2016 if he was fired without cause, and through the end of the 2013 calendar year (he was fired in February) if with cause. Hunter's suit alleges that he hasn't received a penny in severance pay.

David Anderson, one of Hunter's attorneys, told Berger that his client's position has not changed, and insisted that the now-controversial extension was executed in the same fashion as prior extensions in 2005 and 1999.

"The contract requires the NBPA to pay Mr. Hunter an agreed-upon severance and prohibits the NBPA from bringing up old charges to avoid paying that severance," Anderson said.

"I don't see anything new in the NBPA's countersuit," he added, "other than the obvious implication that the NBPA intends to spend a lot more of the players' money going forward in an effort to smear and bully its way to victory."

The NBPA initially moved to dismiss Hunter's lawsuit in 2014, had the motion rejected, appealed the decision, and had their appeal rejected in August. The countersuit appears to be another act of litigious gamesmanship in a gridlocked conflict that doesn't look primed to resolve itself any time soon.