George Gallantz, a former Proskauer Rose sports attorney who was instrumental in the merger of the National Basketball Association with the American Basketball Association, died on April 24, the day after his 100th birthday.
Gallantz was the longtime outside general counsel to the NBA from its earliest days, defending the league against lawsuits as it grew dramatically throughout the 1960s and 70s. In particular, he represented the NBA in Robertson v. National Basketball Association, 556 F.2d 682 (2d Cir. 1977), a landmark antitrust caseand one of the first-ever sports merger antitrust caseswhere player Oscar Robertson sued to block the merger. In that case, a judge issued an injunction delaying the planned merger several years until 1976. The settlement set the stage for the NBA’s free agency rules for players that are still in use.
