White, Roberts Finalists For Union Chief

SATURDAY, 6:52pm: No one was officially elected today as NBPA executive director today despite the NBPA executive committee having deliberated for almost three hours. It appears though, the search is down to two finalists: White, and Michele Roberts, an attorney from Washington D.C., tweets Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. No timetable has been set for when someone will be appointed, but certain powerful agents have been frustrated with the search, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. According to Berger, multiple influential agents say they have candidates in mind who have not been considered. At least one player involved in the search believes the it should be started over and a new list of candidates should be developed, to be voted on at the NBPA’s summer meeting.

FRIDAY, 10:02am: Screen Actors Guild executive director David White is the front runner to take the same job with the National Basketball Players Association, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Union president Chris Paul and the NBPA’s executive committee have already interviewed White, though Wojnarowski hears no formal vote on whether to hire him will take place among union membership this weekend.

White first joined the actors union in 2002, and he became the group’s executive director in 2009. He signed a three-year extension in 2012, so it’s unclear what the players union will have to do to get him out of his contract.

The NBPA has been without an executive director since the All-Star break last year, when longtime chief Billy Hunter was let go amid controversy. Attorney Ron Klempner is serving in an interim capacity. Steve Mills was at one point the favorite for the job before he became Knicks GM, and other rumored candidates have included Isiah Thomas and current NHL and former baseball union head Don Fehr, though none of those three appear to be in the running now.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

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