WASHINGTON - While million-dollar players hammer it out on the court during the second week of the NBA finals, Bill "Tosh" Tosheff is mounting a full-court press to obtain retirement benefits for some of the league's first players.
Mr. Tosheff, who played for the Milwaukee Hawks and the Indiana Olympians from 1951 to 1953, is one of about 60 players who never received a retirement benefit from the National Basketball Association. Because the NBA hasn't responded favorably, Mr. Tosheff called on two politicians to mount a new offense.
"I know I don't have a legal standing, but I do have a moral case," Mr. Tosheff said.
A measure that passed the California Senate April 17, introduced by state Sen. Quentin L. Kopp, urged the NBA to include these long-excluded pioneers. Last week, U.S. Rep. Bill Lipinski, D-Ill., introduced a similar resolution in the U.S. House.
While the resolutions can't force the NBA to act, Mr. Tosheff said he hopes the political push will compel the NBA to "do the right thing."
"I'm just in search of pension parity," Mr. Tosheff said.
The NBA's first plan, created in 1965, required participants to play for at least three seasons starting in 1965. A 1988 amendment allowed pre-1965 players in the plan, but stipulated participants needed to play for at least five seasons. (Participants who couldn't play because of military duty were credited with a season for each year of military service.) This left about 60 men who played for at least three seasons but not five without any retirement benefit.
"I know (the NBA) is not required to offer a pension, but why the double standard?" Mr. Tosheff said. "Why leave the three-year and four-year pioneer players out?"
According to Mr. Kopp, post-1965 players receive at least $285 per month for each year of play while pre-1965 veterans who qualify receive $200 per month for each year they played.
Mr. Tosheff, who was the co-rookie of the year in 1952, is asking the NBA to pay about $434,000 annually to the 60 players, on a declining basis.
So far, the NBA hasn't budged.
While the association is in the midst of finals, no one returned repeated phone calls from Pensions & Investments.
Russell T. Granik, NBA's deputy commissioner and chief operating officer, in March wrote former player Thomas V. King: "We continue to believe that (the five-year vesting) rule represents a fair requirement in determining that group of individuals who made a truly significant contribution to the early years of the NBA." Mr. Granik included that same line in a similar letter to Mr. Kopp.
Mr. King, who played in 1946 and 1947 for the Chicago Stags, is not interested in the pension benefit for himself, but for others who are worse off.
"The NBA should be acknowledging these guys" with some kind of benefit, Mr. King said. "It all had to start someplace."
Ron Klempner, assistant general counsel for the NBA Players Association, said in a 1996 letter to Mr. Tosheff that the issue was brought up during a collective bargaining session. He said the players in question would not be part of the agreement signed in 1996. Now, Mr. Klempner said, it's up to the NBA to get the ball rolling.
"They're the ones who have to initiate the bargaining," Mr. Klempner said in an interview with P&I.
"We've already indicated our willingness to bargain with this."
The 60 players were the backbone of professional basketball, said Mr. Lipinski. He noted that 40 years ago, players competed in small gyms, got a paycheck when the team made a profit and washed their own uniforms. Mr. Lipinski said it isn't fair they now need to take care of themselves in retirement.
"The present-day NBA owes its success to the unselfish dedication of all the pioneer players," Mr. Lipinski said.
Mr. Lipinski, a former amateur Chicago Park District athletic supervisor, introduced his measure into Congress only after NBA Commissioner David Stern and Players Association President William Hunter did nothing in response to letters he wrote them. He said the NBA has a moral obligation to take care of these players in their later years.
"Time is of the essence in this case because of these gentlemen's advancing age," Mr. Lipinski wrote to Messrs. Stern and Hunter last month. "Their pre-1965 participation of three or four years was no lesser of a contribution to the early NBA than those post-1965-ers' three years of participation."
One such player is John Ezersky, Mr. Tosheff said. Mr. Ezersky, a former Boston Celtic, is now 75 and still works as a cab driver in San Francisco.
Added Mr. Tosheff: "We are people who worked hard and set the table for the megabusiness it is today."
