Smashing a Ceiling and a Lot of Egos – Michele Roberts, N.B.A. Union’s New Leader, Confronts Gender Barriers

New York Times – Michele A. Roberts, a lawyer in Washington, will become the first woman to lead a major North American professional sports union. Credit Gabriella Demczuk/The New York Times

Last month, inside a grand ballroom at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Michele A. Roberts stood before 117 N.B.A. players — towering international celebrities with millions in their bank accounts — and declared that she should be their leader.

Roberts confidently ran through her credentials — law school at the University of California, Berkeley; a sparkling trial career; partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, one of Washington’s most prestigious law firms — and then addressed the many problems facing the players union that she hoped to lead as executive director.

But as the private meeting went on, she sensed an unspoken question hovering over the proceedings. Keeping with her style, she confronted it head-on.

“I bet you can tell I’m a woman,” she said, “and I suspect the rest of the world can, too.”

She said she was all too aware that if she was selected, she would represent several hundred male athletes in the N.B.A.; she would deal with league officials and agents who were nearly all men; she would negotiate with team owners who were almost all men; and she would stand before reporters who were predominantly men.

Roberts, who grew up in the Melrose Houses in the Bronx, will return to New York in her new position. Credit Ángel Franco/The New York Times

She did not flinch. “My past,” she told the room, “is littered with the bones of men who were foolish enough to think I was someone they could sleep on.”

Hours later, Roberts drew 32 of 34 votes cast and was named the first female leader of a major North American professional sports union, ending a long and contentious search. “I don’t live my life saying, ‘What ceiling am I going to crack tomorrow?’ ” she said. “What I have done, and what I tell my nieces to do, is not to worry about whether you’re the only one, but worry about whether you’re the best one.”

via Michele Roberts, N.B.A. Union’s New Leader, Confronts Gender Barriers – NYTimes.com.