Ex-NBPA Executive Director Roberts Mulling Official Objection To House v. NCAA Settlement

The vocal opposition to the House v. NCAA settlement has added another to their chorus. Former National Basketball Players Association Executive Director Michele Roberts is “strongly considering making a formal objection to the House v. NCAA settlement,” according to Sportico’s Daniel Libit. Doing so would put her opposite Jeffrey Kessler, the lead plantiffs’ lawyer, a longtime ally of hers.

Roberts served as the executive director of the NBPA from 2014 to 2022. Though retired, an objection from her could be a powerful one. She would be one of many in the college sports world submitting an objection to the settlement before the Jan. 31 deadline. Earlier this week, former Texas A&M football player Kwame Etwi filed an objection specifically relating to the BNLI definitions, and Keaton Rice, a swimmer at Auburn, submitted a letter to the House v. NCAA docket discussing the impact of roster limits.

Roberts told Sportico the main objections she has to the settlement is that “too much of the deal—including its cap on athlete revenue-sharing—should be the product of collective bargaining and not settlement negotiations,” and she “questions whether the class representatives in the case adequately speak for the interests of the athletes who she argues have the most to gain (or lose) financially—football and basketball players.”

Former Arizona State swimmer Grant House is the lead plaintiff in the case that, should the settlement be approved in April, send millions in backpay to NCAA athletes. However, it’s the football players and men’s basketball players who would receive the majority of the money.

Athletes have begun to receive their estimated payouts from the settlements. The estimates amounts have been met with mixed reviews from the swimmers who shared their estimates with SwimSwam. Further, an approved settlement in its current state would axe scholarship caps in favor of roster limits. Sources told SwimSwam in the fall the SEC was proposing a roster cap of 22 athletes for men’s swimming and diving. Last season, the average men’s roster was approximately 26 swimmers.

Roberts has not filed an objection yet but confirmed with the court she can file an objection as a non-party in the case. She minimized the weight that her voice would add to the dissenters as she’s retired. Instead, she said it would matter more if the pro-athlete unions spoke up. “I would like to think the professional associations…take a position with respect to settlement, because I think they should remain stalwarts in anything that threatens the rights [of athletes] to organize,” she told Sportico.

Roberts continued, “there is a cap in that settlement that Stevie Wonder could see should have been bargained for by a union…I think the industry for these students is at a crossroad and my fear is it is being decided with insufficient input from the students.”