The modern NBA stars remain indebted to Oscar Robertson and his contemporaries for filing a landmark lawsuit against the league in 1970. Many believe that the outcome of this case changed professional basketball forever and allowed the game to grow over the years. Isiah Thomas echoed this exact sentiment.
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Zeke highlighted an Instagram clip of Robertson discussing this lawsuit. He shared this video on his story as a tribute to the 1971 NBA champion.
Isiah Thomas on IG pic.twitter.com/vqVS2c8RZX
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) September 28, 2024
This clip surfaced from Robertson’s interview with All The Smoke. It featured the 85-year-old discussing the reason behind filing this lawsuit. He recounted how it all started as a way to stop the merger between the NBA and the ABA. The case evolved as time went on. The focus soon shifted to players’ rights. He remembered,
“We went to court originally to stop ABA from joining the NBA and then these other things came about. The players’ rights and whether or not you had a contract, could you go somewhere else. The NBA said you couldn’t. They said they had perpetual rights to you forever, which was not true.”
Robertson then reflected on how the lawsuit was partly driven by the players’ contract situations and the media’s bias against black players. He recalled,
“The draft hurt me and I will tell you why because I went to a team that was in disarray. I had to sacrifice my game and then after I got there, the press can be very difficult for you when you are a star. They want you to win, they want you to do well but they don’t want you to do too well ’cause they don’t wanna write about that.”
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All these aspects eventually became key elements of the infamous Robertson v. National Basketball Association lawsuit.
How this lawsuit transformed the NBA
As Robertson pointed out, a group of NBA and ABA players joined forces to prevent the two leagues from merging. These players accused them of colluding to form a monopoly in basketball. This violated the rights protected by the Sherman Antitrust Act.
They also challenged a few practices that limited a player’s rights. For example, players had a reserve clause in their contracts at the time. It kept them from joining other teams, even after their contracts expired. The players pushed for a change in this dynamic as well.
The court acknowledged the issues which led to major changes. While the merger was unavoidable, the players’ lives off the court improved dramatically. To put things into perspective, the voice of The National Basketball Players Association grew much stronger within the league. Players also received air travel facilities, motel accommodations, and other luxurious perks.
This brought about an irreversible change in the NBA and marked the beginning of the modern game.
