Returning to the city where his pro basketball career was launched in 1990, Walter Palmer maintains deep convictions that a players union is a vital element for any league craving for legitimacy.

Furthermore, his staunch support of sports unions brought him to Tokyo in mid-April to meet with the fledgling Japan Basketball Players Association, which represents the National Basketball League (the JBL¡¯s successor).

Palmer, the second Dartmouth College alum to play in the NBA (Rudy ¡°Roughhouse Rudy¡± LaRusso, Lakers and Warriors forward, 1959-69 was the first), speaks with authority and expertise. He was a co-founder and driving force behind the formation of SP.IN (aka the German Basketball Players Association), the first union for German pro basketball, in 2005.