Derek Fisher Responds To NBPA Strife

SACRAMENTO — One day after news broke that executive director of the National Basketball Players Association Billy Hunter reportedly has called for Derek Fisher’s resignation as president, Fisher responded to the situation with a brief statement at Friday morning’s shoot-around.

The quickest, most efficient way to say it is to say that I do and I’ve always taken my job as president of the players association very, very seriously. And anyone or any group that questions my intentions or any decisions I’ve ever made that I’ve felt were best for our players, I think need to step back for a moment and ask themselves this: why would I try and ask certain questions and call into review the association that I’m the president of unless I thought that there were some serious questions that needed to be answered? Things that I, as president, aren’t satisfied with. It calls my leadership into question in certain ways in terms of not being able to put certain controls in place. I’ll take the hits and the negative comments that may come or whatever may happen. But it won’t take me away or distract me from doing what I feel is best for all of our players. This is in no way about me. It’s about our membership. And so I won’t lose focus on that idea. I’m going to continue to push for what is right for our players.”

Fisher was cut off by a Thunder executive immediately after making his statement, and media members were not permitted to ask follow-up questions. But it appears this story is far from its conclusion.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported that Hunter is pushing to oust Fisher.