How Oubre, Bridges handle union duties
SACRAMENTO – Mikal Bridges got first dibs next time.
The National Basketball Players’ Association conducted a meeting in the Bahamas during last season's All-Star break. Phoenix Suns’ main team representative Kelly Oubre Jr., made the trip.
“I told him the next thing we do, I’ll go,” said Bridges, the team's alternate rep.
It’s a perk for a team representative. But responsibility comes with the job as well.
The duties of a Player Representative include but are not limited to:
Serving as the team’s delegate during all Player Representative meetings
❚ Each Representative is entrusted to speak on behalf of his teammates and report back any relevant and necessary information addressed during meetings
Nominating and electing Executive Committee Members
Selecting the Executive Director of the union.
“It’s just about keeping up-to-date with the news in the league,” Oubre said. “Player bargaining agreements. Different rules that are changing. All the player rep (responsibility) is being tentative to all that information and letting your teammates know. It’s cool. It’s a good way to keep everybody informed and that we’re all knowledgeable about the situations.”
Bridges, a second-year player, still takes his responsibilities as an alternate representative seriously.
“Just like on a drug test, a player will ask can you take it,” Bridges said. “Like (rookie Jalen Lecque) asked me if he had to go right now. I’m like, you don’t have to go right now, you can wait. Getting him to know the situations.”
It's just part of being a player rep. “You’ve got to be available,” Suns combo guard Tyler Johnson said. “Being very observant of what the team needs.”
Teams elect their player representatives for the NBPA, or a player can volunteer, Bridges said. He was voted in as a rookie.
“Maybe it was because I was pretty smart and had been in school for four years,” said Bridges, who left Villanova after his redshirt junior year.
Suns coach Monty Williams is on the outside looking in now, but having been in NBA player for nine seasons, he understands the importance of it.
“There are so many players and not everybody has a voice,” Williams said. “So when you have guys that say, ‘Hey, I’m going to be a voice for the players,” I think it’s cool that guys stand up and do that. I probably should’ve done more when I look back at my career in that regard because I didn’t understand the importance of it. Now that I’m a coach, I see all the work that goes into it and I think it’s a huge benefit to have people represent you to the NBA.”
Williams noted that he still receives checks from the NBA for his likeness, which player reps negotiate.
“The monies that you get, the benefits that you get, your pension, your medical are all a byproduct of people representing you well to the league,” Williams said. “There’s a ton of money, a ton of benefits, but if you don’t have people fighting for you at the bargaining table, you’re not going to get all you can.”
This doesn’t mean everyone wants that responsibility.
“If you’re going to commit to it, it’s something you have to see through,” Johnson said. “If you have any kind of situation where you’re like, ah, I can’t see myself actually going to do it and then the time comes and you’re like, ‘I really don’t want to do it.’ That’s unfair. You’re not only taking away from yourself, you’re taking away from everybody on the team. I’d rather give that responsibility to someone else.”
Being a player rep can feel 'extra' during the season, but Oubre takes advantage of breaks in the action to stay current on league issues.
“Like during the off season or even during the All-Star break, I can sit down and get information on what’s going on in the league or drastic changes we need to know about,” Oubre said.
The NBA makes that part easier to digest.
“As of now, everything we need to know is on the surface of the internet,” Oubre said. “(NBA commissioner) Adam Silver let’s us know what he’s doing.”
Johnson said players are in constant conversations about what’s happening in the league in the locker room, the team bus or elsewhere. There rarely are “major surprises” in a meeting, but someone must still lead that meeting.
Another part of being a player rep.