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American attorney and sports agent
Lawrence Fleisher
(September 26, 1930 ? May 4, 1989) was an American
attorney
and
sports agent
.
Born in
The Bronx, New York
, Fleisher, a 1953 graduate of
Harvard Law School
, at the request of
professional
basketball
player
Tom Heinsohn
, helped found the
National Basketball Association Players’ Association
, of which he would serve as president from 1962 to 1968, during which time
pensions
, minimum salaries, and
disability
pay were secured for the membership.
For 19 additional years, Fleisher would continue to serve, without salary, as
general counsel
for the Players’ Association, arguing before
U.S. Congress
and the
National Labor Relations Board
to gain players the right of
free agency
, which right was eventually won in 1976.
Having guided players to the
American Basketball Association
in the late 1960s, Fleisher later helped broker the merger between the ABA and NBA and worked to set up relationships between the NBA and professional leagues in
Europe
and
South America
; he would represent little-known foreign players as well as established American stars, including
Bill Bradley
,
John Havlicek
,
Bob Lanier
,
Willis Reed
, and
Jerry West
, and, in an effort to promote basketball globally, would lead his clients on playing tours to Europe, South America, and
Asia
.
Prior to his 1987 retirement, Fleisher helped broker a labor agreement that installed a
salary cap
on NBA franchises and provided for penalties for players caught using
hard drugs
.
He died from a
heart attack
after playing
squash
at the
New York Athletic Club
.
In recognition of his achievements in the game of basketball, Fleisher was inducted into the
Basketball Hall of Fame
as a contributor in 1991.
Sources
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Pound sign (#) denotes interim executive director.
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