Oscar Robertson and Other Great Athletes Suing NCAA for Billions

The great Oscar Robertson, former superstar in both college and professional basketball, said that he was approached recently by fans asking him to sign trading cards that showed him to be a player with The University of Cincinnati. Robertson, who played for the school 51 years ago, was shocked to see his image and a picture of his jersey attached.

Upon seeing that he'd been violated in this way, Robertson called the Upper Deck Trading Card company for an explanation, not getting a response that made sense. That's when Robertson found out that the NCAA had signed deals with companies to use his likeness, for the rest of his life, without obtaining his consent.

"The arrogance of the NCAA to say, 'we have the right to do this,' ... is what troubles me the most," Robertson said to Yahoo! Sports. "The University of Cincinnati gets a fee each time my picture is used on a card. I don't. When I played there, there was nothing like this ever agreed to... Instead they just made the deal without asking or even telling anyone."

Not willing to take the abuse any further, Robertson joined up with a class action lawsuit filed in 2009 against the NCAA. The suit, started by former UCLA star Ed O'Bannon, argues that the NCAA "has illegally deprived former student-athletes" from "myriad revenue streams" including "DVDs, video games, memorabilia, photographs, television rebroadcasts and use in advertising."

A large number of law firms are involved in the suit, with most of them specializing in class actions. One of them even obtained reparations payments for Holocaust survivors from Swiss banks. The NCAA argues that their marketing division, called the Collegiate Licensing Company, has the right to do business in the way they've been doing it thus far.

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Blacks in the News

FILE - This undated picture shows Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington. Washington inherited land and 10 human beings from his father, and gained more of both as he grew older. But over the decades, as he recognized slavery's contradiction with the freedoms of the new nation, Washington grew opposed to human bondage. George Washington's name is inseparable from America, and not only from the nation's history. It identifies countless streets, buildings, mountains, bridges, monuments, cities _ and people. In a puzzling twist, most of these people are black. The 2000 U.S. Census counted 163,036 people with the surname Washington. Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. (AP Photo/National Portrait Gallery)

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Blacks in the News

In this March 2010 photo provided by Sade Adeyina, she is seen on a Mediterranean beach in Tunisia while on an excursion from her study abroad trip to Italy. When Adeyina's college roommate started bugging her about studying abroad together, she never thought she could afford a semester in Italy. Yet the friendly peer pressure _ combined with financial aid and timely academic advising _ led Adeyina to say "Arrivederci!" to Temple University in Philadelphia and head overseas for the first time. Educators want more minority students to follow the lead of Adeyina, an African-American graphic design major. Foreign study is seen as crucial to student development and even as a key to national security, yet minority participation badly lags their overall presence on college campuses. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Sade Adeyina)

Blacks in the News

In this Jan. 19, 2011 photo, Sade Adeyina smiles during an interview with The Associated Press at Temple University, in Philadelphia. When Adeyina's college roommate started bugging her about studying abroad together, she never thought she could afford a semester in Italy. Yet the friendly peer pressure _ combined with financial aid and timely academic advising _ led Adeyina to say "Arrivederci!" to Temple University in Philadelphia and head overseas for the first time. Educators want more minority students to follow the lead of Adeyina, an African-American graphic design major. Foreign study is seen as crucial to student development and even as a key to national security, yet minority participation badly lags their overall presence on college campuses. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Blacks in the News

FILE - This undated file shows boxer Jack Johnson, who was born in Galveston, Texas. Johnson became the first African American to win the world champion heavyweight boxing title. He had approximately 113 bouts, only six losses and was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954. Lawmakers are going another round in their fight to get a posthumous presidential pardon for Johnson, who was imprisoned nearly a century ago because of his romantic ties with a white woman. (AP Photo/File)

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In this Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 picture, Shannon Washington poses for a portrait in the Brooklyn borough of New York. George Washington's name is inseparable from America, and not only from the nation's history. It identifies countless streets, buildings, mountains, bridges, monuments, cities _ and people. In a puzzling twist, most of these people are black. The 2000 U.S. Census counted 163,036 people with the surname Washington. Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Blacks in the News

FILE - This 1894 file photo shows Booker T. Washington. The famous ex-slave was a boy when Emancipation came to his Virginia plantation. He had been called only "Booker" until enrolling in school. "When the teacher asked me what my full name was, I calmly told him, 'Booker Washington,'" he wrote in his autobiography, "Up from Slavery." George Washington's name is inseparable from America, and not only from the nation's history. It identifies countless streets, buildings, mountains, bridges, monuments, cities _ and people. In a puzzling twist, most of these people are black. The 2000 U.S. Census counted 163,036 people with the surname Washington. Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. (AP Photo/Library of Congress, File)

Blacks in the News

In this Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 picture, Ida and Larry Washington sit together in their living room in Weybridge, Vt. Larry Washington, who traces his family tree back to England in the 1700s, says he is not related to George, who had no children. George Washington's name is inseparable from America, and not only from the nation's history. It identifies countless streets, buildings, mountains, bridges, monuments, cities _ and people. In a puzzling twist, most of these people are black. The 2000 U.S. Census counted 163,036 people with the surname Washington. Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

Blacks in the News

In this Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 picture, Larry Washington stands next to silhouettes of George and Martha Washington in his home in Weybridge, Vt. Larry Washington, who traces his family tree back to England in the 1700s, says he is not related to George, who had no children. George Washington's name is inseparable from America, and not only from the nation's history. It identifies countless streets, buildings, mountains, bridges, monuments, cities _ and people. In a puzzling twist, most of these people are black. The 2000 U.S. Census counted 163,036 people with the surname Washington. Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

Blacks in the News

In this Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 picture, Ida and Larry Washington sit together in their living room in Weybridge, Vt. holding a clock with their surname printed on it. Larry Washington, who traces his family tree back to England in the 1700s, says he is not related to George, who had no children. George Washington's name is inseparable from America, and not only from the nation's history. It identifies countless streets, buildings, mountains, bridges, monuments, cities _ and people. In a puzzling twist, most of these people are black. The 2000 U.S. Census counted 163,036 people with the surname Washington. Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

Blacks in the News

Other players also have a beef with the NCAA. Former UCLA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has filed suit against the NCAA in California for the use of his image on trading cards as well. The suits being filed by former players threaten an estimated $4 billion market for licensed material being sold by the NCAA.

I had a chance to speak with Sonny Vaccaro, a vocal advocate for the rights of NCAA athletes. Sonny is a legend in the game, actually signing Michael Jordan to his first shoe deal. After working in the industry for decades, Vaccaro has begun campaigning on behalf of the labor rights of NCAA athletes and supports the idea that athletes and their families should be compensated for their labor. I've had respect for Sonny ever since he started working on deals to help young kids play basketball in Europe to avoid playing for just a scholarship with the NCAA. Unfortunately, most NCAA basketball and football players are not properly educated by money-hungry universities that only admit them as hired guns for their sports teams. Even if they are educated, many of them are distracted by serious financial problems at home, which are not helped by the fact that they are earning millions for their coaches while watching their families being evicted.

I spoke with Sonny about the lawsuit, and he is aware that my organization ALARM, The Athlete Liberation Academic Reform Movement, also works on behalf of black athletes to heighten their awareness of the environment within which they operate. I personally don't tell athletes that they should demand to be paid, but I do advocate that athletes have the same rights to negotiation as coaches, administrators and commentators, all of whom earn millions from the labor being produced on the court or field.

I ran into Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the airport years ago. I walked up to the tall former player to inform him that I was on my way to a university (I can't remember which one, I think it was in Vermont) to debate whether or not college athletes should be paid. I asked Jabbar for his thoughts on the matter. In his somber, very serious sort of way, Jabbar said "Yes, I think they should get paid." He then went on to mention how much money UCLA earned from his outstanding play in the 1970s and that he and other players deserved to share in that revenue. So, you can imagine how surprised I was to hear that two years later, Jabbar has filed suit against the NCAA. I applaud his initiative on the matter.

When I am asked if college athletes should be financially compensated for the use of their images after their playing days are over, I simply respond to the question with another question: "Why shouldn't they be paid?" If a ten-year old kid stars in a $100 million blockbuster film, it would seem ridiculous to pay that child with a $50,000 scholarship. Well, the NCAA is a multi-billion dollar extravaganza, with March Madness lining up as many corporate sponsors as the Super Bowl. The entire African American community should be both angry and shocked that the coach and his family show up to games in private planes, while the star player's mother can't even afford to get there on a Greyhound Bus. This system is another symbol of what I often refer to as "Americanized Apartheid," where the best treatment is reserved for whites, and African Americans are typically relegated to the back of the economic bus. Besides the prison system, the NCAA stands as the most exploitative institution in the entire United States. This is downright shameful.