Court Justice: The Inside Story of My Battle Against the NCAA

by Ed O'Bannon, Michael McCann, Jeremy Schaap (Foreword by)

Overview

“Like Curt Flood and Oscar Robertson, who paved the way for free agency in sports, Ed O’Bannon decided there was a principle at stake… O’Bannon gave the movement to reform college sports…passion and purpose, animated by righteous indignation.” —Jeremy Schaap, ESPN journalist and New York Times bestselling author

In 2009, Ed O’Bannon, once a star for the 1995 NCAA Champion UCLA Bruins and a first-round NBA draft pick, thought he’d made peace with the NCAA’s exploitive system of “amateurism.” College athletes generated huge profits, yet—training nearly full-time, forced to tailor coursework around sports, often pawns in corrupt investigations—they saw little from those riches other than revocable scholarships and miniscule chances of going pro. Still, that was all in O’Bannon’s past…until he saw the video game NCAA Basketball 09. As avatars of their college selves­—their likenesses, achievements, and playing styles—O’Bannon and his teammates were still making money for the NCAA. So, when asked to fight the system for players past, present, and future—and seeking no personal financial reward, but rather the chance to make college sports more fair—he agreed to be the face of what became a landmark class-action lawsuit.

Court Justice brings readers to the front lines of a critical battle in the long fight for players’ rights while also offering O’Bannon’s unique perspective on today’s NCAA recruiting scandals. From the basketball court to the court of law facing NCAA executives, athletic directors, and “expert” witnesses; and finally to his innovative ideas for reform, O’Bannon breaks down history’s most important victory yet against the inequitable model of multi-billion-dollar “amateur” sports.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635767889
Publisher:	Diversion Books
Publication date:	12/07/2021
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.71(d)

About the Author

Ed O'Bannon led the UCLA men's basketball team to the 1995 NCAA Basketball Championship. He received the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player Award and won numerous other awards, including the John Wooden Award, which recognizes the best college basketball player in the country. O'Bannon was the ninth player selected in the 1995 NBA Draft and enjoyed a 10-year professional basketball career. After retiring from the game, O'Bannon entered the car dealership industry. In 2009, O'Bannon filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA and Electronic Arts. In a landmark decision, which was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals, O'Bannon defeated the NCAA. O'Bannon received no compensation from the case. O'Bannon, who is from Los Angeles, now resides in Henderson, Nevada with his wife, Rosa. They have three children.

Ed O'Bannon led the UCLA men's basketball team to the 1995 NCAA Basketball Championship. He received the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player Award and won numerous other awards, including the John Wooden Award, which recognizes the best college basketball player in the country. O'Bannon was the ninth player selected in the 1995 NBA Draft and enjoyed a 10-year professional basketball career. After retiring from the game, O'Bannon entered the car dealership industry. In 2009, O'Bannon filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA and Electronic Arts. In a landmark decision, which was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals, O'Bannon defeated the NCAA. O'Bannon received no compensation from the case. O'Bannon, who is from Los Angeles, now resides in Henderson, Nevada with his wife, Rosa. They have three children.

Michael McCann is Sports Illustrated's Legal Analyst and has authored more than 600 articles for SI. He is also a Professor of Law, with tenure, and Director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. He is the Editor of the forthcoming Handbook of American Sports Law and has authored articles in the Yale Law Journal, Boston College Law Review and Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment among other top law reviews. He holds degrees from Harvard Law School, the University of Virginia School of Law, and Georgetown University. He resides in his hometown of Andover,

Massachusetts with his wife, Kara.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Prologue: It's in the Game 1

1 The Clarion Call 7

2 From One to Many 26

3 Trust the Process 37

4 Tip-Off Nears 59

5 Game Time 73

6 The Two Faces of College Sports 83

7 The Real Jurors 95

8 The Many Ways of Valuing College Athletes' Identities 112

9 Judging the Judge 128

10 Hoops Economics 140

11 Closure 152

12 The Win, the Appeal and the Wait 170

13 Victory at Last 194

14 Call to Action: My Twelve Ideas for Fixing College Sports 209

Epilogue 253

Acknowledgments 257

Index 259

Editorial Reviews

Ed O’Bannon wisely focuses as much on shattering the myth of the ‘student athlete’ as on the legal aspects of his groundbreaking lawsuit. He exposes the many ways that college players are exploited financially and deprived of both their civil rights and a meaningful education—while the NCAA, college athletic departments, coaches and athletic directors, apparel companies, videogame producers and sports agents rake in millions of dollars from those athletes’ images and unpaid labor. Despite the resistance of those entrenched interests, O’Bannon has set in motion changes that are inevitable, and everyone involved will benefit. His twelve ideas for fixing college sports should be required reading for everyone in the business of sports.”
—Oscar Robertson, National Association of Basketball Coaches’ “Player of the Century,” longest-serving President of the National Basketball Players Association, and leader of the anti-trust class-action suit resulting in the Oscar Robertson Rule that gained free agency for NBA players and ultimately all professional athletes

“Ed O’Bannon is a trailblazer in the debate over the fair treatment of college athletes in the multi-billion dollar industry of NCAA sports. Ed’s new book Court Justice is an amazing inside view of an All-American’s battle against the NCAA cartel. It is a fascinating read. No matter what side of the fence you find yourself on, Ed’s book will stress test your position in a riveting fashion.”
—Jay Bilas, ESPN

“Ed O’Bannon has cracked the lineup of principled athletes who have fought for players’ rights. That battle began long ago by immortals like Oscar Robertson and Bill Russell, and they stand with O’Bannon today. Giving college athletes a fair stake in the NCAA’s profit machine should matter to everyone, and Court Justice lucidly explains the stakes, the parameters of the battle, and what reforms are needed today.”
—Jack McCallum, New York Times best-selling author of Dream Team and most recently Golden Days: West’s Lakers, Steph’s Warriors, and the California Dreamers Who Reinvented Basketball

“Ed O’Bannon is that rarest of athletes, a true game-changer. He set college sports on a path toward modernization, motivated by the desire to make it better for all. This is what can happen when the gentlest of souls meets the opportunity to make history, and doesn’t flinch.”
—Tom Farrey, executive director, Aspen Institute Sports & Society Progam, and author of Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children

“The movement of so called ‘student-athletes’ to reclaim their personhood in the face of a system rife with exploitation cannot be understood without reading Court Justice. Ed O’Bannon is a hero. He spoke truth to power—a truth that now like a subterranean fire, cannot be stomped out.”
—Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation, and author of Jim Brown: Last Man Standing

From the Publisher