I’m always amazed at how many sports and sports-related news stories are reported by lawyers with no knowledge of real sports or basketball players. I think the reason is because there are so many lawyers who are involved in sports, so they have to report the news in a way that is relevant to their clients.
Lawyers in sports have a particularly strong interest in covering the sports they love, so they try to find stories, video clips, and stats that are relevant to their clients. For example, I have yet to see a lawyer in any sport who couldn’t name every single NBA player.
This week’s attorneys in sports news are probably the most infamous. I’ve been seeing a lot of them on Twitter recently, so I’m thinking that they are probably the most famous lawyers in sports… but that’s another discussion.
Lawyers are often referred to as the elite of the elite, because they have access to the most powerful attorneys in the world. A lot of lawyers out there are great at handling tough cases, but many of them also have an affinity for finding loopholes in the law, so they often find new, creative ways to help their clients. I have yet to see anyone with a love for sports, but that doesnt mean theyre not out there playing.
One of the most famous attorneys in sports is Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is very involved in basketball, but he has had a history of finding new loopholes in the law. I am sure, like most lawyers, he finds some loopholes in the law all the time.
Gilbert has always been one of those lawyers who has a lot of ideas in his head about how to get around the law. To catch you up, in 2012 he won a case against the Lakers and the NBA Players Association over the league’s decision to allow players to use a portion of their contracts to cover the cost of legal fees. In the case, Gilbert wanted to use his NBA rights to create a new loophole in the league’s ruling regarding a change in the NBA rule regarding free agent salaries.
Gilbert is currently in court arguing over it. That’s because the NBA is going to have to pay him $2 million in legal fees in the case, and he’s hoping to use that money to help him get his clients’ cases funded. This is probably going to be a long case, but it’s interesting to see the NBA’s stance on the matter.
The NBA itself has become a bit of a political football over the issue of free agents. The NBA is currently suing the NBA Players Association to prevent them from changing any part of the current rule about how they receive the cash they are paid for free.
I can see this being a bad idea for the NBA, but the NBA Players Association seems to think that the current rule is unfair to players. The Players Association has filed a complaint in the case which states the rule is unfair to the players. The NBA has stated that they will work with the players association to find a solution that will ensure the players have the financial security that they are entitled to.
In the complaint, the NBA players association writes, “The present arrangement is unfair to the players, who are not paid for a service that they performed during the course of each year.” They go on to state that the players are being paid $100 per game (in addition to the $1.7 million that they are owed from the previous year) which is more than they’d have made were they paid for their services.