Feds cry NBA personnel foul

The National Basketball Players Association is being investigated by the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan after President Derek Fisher asked for independent reviews of its finances and business practices, the union said.

Union Executive Director Billy Hunter was notified of the investigation by subpoena for documents on April 25, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. The people were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation.

“The NBPA will cooperate fully with the government’s investigation,” the statement said. The association has appointed a six-member special committee that consists of player representatives and executive committee members to oversee an internal inquiry that will include a financial audit. The statement didn’t say which players would serve on the committee.

The committee has retained Theodore V. Wells, Jr. and the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to conduct the inquiry. Hunter has recused himself from the process, the statement said.

News of the probe comes a week after the union’s executive committee asked Fisher, an Oklahoma City Thunder guard, to resign following his request for an audit and review of how the organization runs its business. The committee, with the support of Hunter, declined to conduct the reviews and two days later voted to ask for Fisher’s resignation. He refused.

Bloomberg News reported this week that the New York-based union paid $4.8 million to Hunter’s family members and their professional firms since 2001, according to public records.

Hunter, 69, has a daughter and a daughter-in-law on staff at the New York-based association. Another daughter is special counsel at a law firm used by the union, and Hunter’s son is a principal at a financial planning and investment firm that advises the organization.