Billy Hunter (basketball)

George William "Billy" Hunter (born November 5, 1942) is a former executive director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), the players' union of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is also a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins. He graduated from Delaware Township High School in Delaware Township (now Cherry Hill Township), New Jersey, and played college football for Syracuse University. While a student-athlete at Syracuse, "he helped organize the school's boycott of Southern schools whose stadiums were segregated."

Following his football career, Hunter attended law school at UC Berkeley School of Law and became an attorney. One of the youngest United States Attorneys in history, he was appointed to serve the Northern District of California, where he prosecuted high-profile federal defendants including members of Hells Angels and the Black Panther Party. Hunter was named the executive director of the NBPA in 1996.

Hunter has received criticism for employing many family members within the NBPA. An external audit initiated by Derek Fisher uncovered numerous irregularities, and a select committee of NBA players unanimously ousted Hunter from his position on Feb. 16, 2013, during the All-Star break. In May 2013, Hunter sued the NBPA, Fisher and Jamie Wior, Fisher's publicist and business partner, seeking compensation and punitive damages. The suit claimed that Fisher had a secret deal with NBA owners during the 2011 NBA lockout. In January 2014, a judge dismissed all of Hunter's claims against Wior and Fisher, and Hunter dropped his subsequent appeal in May. However, the judge also ruled that it was the union's prerogative to fire Hunter, but allowed Hunter's claim that he was still owed $10.5 million to continue.