CJ McCollum, the star guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, has been elected as the president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).
McCollum succeeds 16-year veteran Chris Paul, who was the president of the NBPA for the previous two terms, beginning in 2013. Prior to being elected, McCollum was already an integral member of the NBPA, serving as a vice president on the NBPA’s executive committee since 2018.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to take over as the new president of the NBPA,” McCollum said. “Chris has done an incredible job over the last 8 years, strengthening the voice of the players as a whole and using his platform to make sure our membership is taken care of on and off the court. I look forward to stepping into this role and to further growing the game so that future players can continue to learn and benefit from the Union’s work.”
Some of Paul’s major accomplishments were transferring the players’ group licensing rights back to the union and the birth of THINK450, the for-profit section of the NBPA that handles those rights for the players. He also was a key figure in the creation and maintenance of the Orlando bubble in 2020 and the subsequent 2020-21 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among McCollum’s major projects will be finding a replacement for Michele Roberts, who has been the Executive Director of the NBPA since 2014. He will have Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams, elected as vice president, at his side.
