The NBPA is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan.

Union Executive Director Billy Hunter was notified of the investigation by subpoena for documents on April 25, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. The people were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation.

“The NBPA will cooperate fully with the government’s investigation,” the union statement said.

NBPA President Derek Fisher had called for an independent review of its finances and business practices earlier in April.

Billy Hunter's daughter Robyn Hunter and daughter-in-law Megan Ibana have senior staff positions in the NBPA's New York office. Robyn Hunter earned $86,198 from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011, as director of benefits and concierge services, according to Department of Labor filings.

Inaba, the wife of Todd Hunter, was paid $180,444 from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011. Her responsibilities are coordinating the union's All-Star weekend gala and summer meetings, as well as running the union's Twitter account and handling other social media responsibilities. In her position as director of special events, Inaba has averaged the sixth-highest salary in the NBPA over the past five years: $148,633 per year, according to the filings.

The NBPA's charter does not contain a nepotism policy, sources said.

"There's nothing illegal," Billy Hunter told The New York Times on Monday, "and you're not going to find anything illegal, you or anybody else, if that's what you're looking for. I'm not afraid of that."

According to labor filings, Billy Hunter, his family and the entities that employed them made approximately $3,430,953 from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011.

"The real issue here is whether these potential conflicts were disclosed and the failure of someone who has a fiduciary duty [to union members] to make that disclosure presents a compelling question," Ronald Shechtman, managing partner and chair of Pryor Cashman's Labor and Employment Group, told Yahoo! Sports. "Not only is there a duty to disclose, there is a duty to explain the rationale for routing the business that way so that the fiduciaries [players] can make a judgment that the decision is based on good reason or good cause other than the fact that someone is a relation."

Former NBPA treasurer Pat Garrity had planned to challenge Billy Hunter on business practices during the weekend of the 2009 All-Star Game in Phoenix.

Garrity had warned several players and also Hunter of his intentions and several players avoided the scene.

Hunter had sought a $7 million to $9 million investment from the union into Interstate Net Bank of Cherry Hill, N.J., a financial institution that federal and state banking regulators had slapped with debilitating "cease-and-desist" orders, sources said.

Garrity had discovered that Hunter's son, Todd Hunter, was on the board of directors of Interstate Net Bank.

Todd Hunter is also a vice president for Prim Capital, a company that has a consulting contract with the NBPA. Prim Capital has been paid in excess of $2.5 million since 2006.

"Why didn't you disclose any of this?" Garrity asked Hunter several times at the 2009 meeting, witnesses told Yahoo! Sports.

Garrity confirmed the description of events.

Hunter declined comment to Yahoo! through a union spokesman.

The potential conflicts of interest go beyond what Garrity discovered.

Prim Capital controlled 200,000 shares of ISN Bank stock, according to a 2010 ISN Bank letter to stockholders. In addition to Todd Hunter, another Prim employee, executive Carolyn Kaufman, joined the bank's board of directors of ISN in 2004 and was paid $97,000 and $90,000 in consecutive years, according to a KPMG audit of ISN Bank in January 2008 that Yahoo! Sports obtained.

Chris Paul has emerged as a potential replacement for NBA Players Association president Derek Fisher.

"We can't, by bylaws, say who is going to be the president. That would have to go to a vote," NBPA vice president Mo Evans said. "Chris Paul's name may circulate as one of the players who could fulfill that role, given that he's a younger player (at 26), on the executive committee and played a huge role during the lockout. He has the respect of a lot of players."

The NBPA executive committee voted 8-0 for Fisher’s resignation, according to a statement the committee released late Friday.

Fisher has called for "an independent review of the business practices and finances" of the Players Association.

Derek Fisher has rejected a call from the NBPA for him to resign as president.

Fisher is again urging for a review of the union's finances.

The NBPA executive committee voted 8-0 this week that they had lost confidence in Fisher's ability to be president.

"I, along with many others, are extremely disappointed with the Executive Committee," Fisher said Friday in a statement. "Their demand for my resignation and their need to protect the NBPA management and their own best interests instead of protecting the players we were elected to serve is unfortunate."

Fisher said any player may request an independent review of the union's business practices and finances.

"The allegations that are now being directed at me are defamatory," Fisher said. "But I urge our members to order an independent review beginning immediately and that will be proven along with finding out definitively if there are any issues with the NBPA's business practices and finances."

The NBPA's executive committee voted 8-0 for Derek Fisher to step down as president.

"The Executive Committee based its decision on numerous instances over the past six months, where Fisher engaged in conduct detrimental to the union, including acting in contravention of the players' best interests, during collective bargaining, declining to follow the NBPA Constitution, and failing to uphold the duties of the Union President," the statement said.

Fisher spoke briefly to reporters on Friday.

"The quickest, most efficient way to say it is to say that I do and I've always taken my job as president of the players' association very, very seriously."

Fisher and Billy Hunter have been at odds since the middle of the lockout.

The NBPA executive committee has voted to seek the resignation of Derek Fisher, according to sources.

Fisher has refused to resign as union president and has been working to gather a coalition of players to challenge the business and financial practices of Billy Hunter.

Fisher has vowed not to step down and to fight Hunter.

Fisher has two years remaining on his term as NBPA president, while Hunter has more than three years on his contract.

David Stern said the "early returns are excellent" from the NBA's new labor deal.

The NBA reported a loss of several hundred million dollars annually throughout the previous deal. They expect a small loss for the 11-12 season.

The NBA predicts a profit for the 12-13 season.

While ratings are up and attendance is even in comparison to last season, the NBA will not bring back its 11-12 66-game schedule.

The 82-game schedule wasn't possible due to the lockout.

"If you cut the season shorter, we cut our revenues significantly as well," said Adam Silver. "Players would make less, so no, and I think it's not optimal to play a condensed season in this fashion.

"I think both we and the players' union recognized that going in, but it was a compromise on both our parts to maximize the amount of salary players would get this season and to have as authentic a season as possible, sufficient number of games for competitive reasons."

Billy King has convinced members of the NBPA's executive committee to cancel an independent audit of the union's finances and practices.

Derek Fisher had pushed for an internal audit of Hunter's New York offices.

Hunter had his legal team send a memo to players on Tuesday night that the audit had been canceled. 

Fisher and Hunter reportedly have had a strained relationship since the lockout.

Fisher has two more years remaining on his appointment as president of the NBPA.