National Basketball Players Association

The National Basketball Players Association (the NBPA) is a labor union that represents basketball players in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was founded in 1954, making it the oldest trade union of the four major North American professional sports leagues. However, the NBPA did not get recognition by the NBA team owners until ten years later. Its offices are located in the historic Park and Tilford Building at 310 Lenox Ave., New York City. It was briefly a trade association after dissolving as a union during the 2011 NBA lockout.

Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics began to organize the union in 1954 alongside friend and unofficial agent Joe Sharry.

In 1983, players and owners reach a historic agreement, that introduced the "salary cap" era into professional sports. This was believed to be the first salary cap in any major professional sports league in the United States.

The NBA experienced its first work stoppage, when owners imposed a lockout, that lasted from July 1 through September 12, when players and owners reached an agreement. Because the lockout took place during the off-season, no games were lost.

The second NBA lockout, which ran into the 1998–99 season, lasted almost 200 days, and wiped out 464 regular-season games. After players and owners reached an agreement, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, with each of the 29 NBA teams playing a 50-game schedule.

The current collective bargaining agreement was reached in July 2005, and expired at 12:01 EST on July 1, 2011, following completion of the 2010–11 NBA season, resulting in a lockout, similar to the 2011 NFL lockout. ESPN has reported that the owners and players failed to reach an agreement and broke off negotiations, and that the owners began a lockout immediately after the collective bargaining agreement expired.

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