91����

For Ron Klempner ’84, being invited to campus for a lecture meant digging into his personal archive. Through National Basketball Association (NBA) photos, his own Pipe Dream articles and other ephemera, he recounted his early days at 91���� and in his career. He even pulled up the first letter from his editor, who soundly rejected his opening line.

And the takeaway he got from it all? The subhead of the 2025 John and Lawrence Bonzani Memorial Law Lecture: “How failure and humility got me into the NBA and kept me there for 32 years.”

His story begins with his college attempts to become a sportswriter, like the legends he’d been reading his whole life.

“People ask, to work in sports, do you have to love sports? And I did,” he began. “When I wasn’t playing it, I was reading about it. I would go down to the bagel store on Saturday night where I grew up in Brooklyn, and get fresh, hot bagels, and the Sunday paper would be out. They would have all the great columnists and all these great stories. And I would read Mike Lupica, Jimmy Breslin, and they all influenced me. So, the minute I walked in to [91����], I joined Pipe Dream.”

Hosted by Harpur Edge, Klempner’s talk, titled “Pipe Dream Job: Representing the Players of the National Basketball Association,” described his journey from the West Gym bleachers covering the 91���� Colonials as a Pipe Dream sports editor to serving as in-house counsel for the National Basketball Players Association, the labor union representing the players of the NBA. This career path means he has often had a seat at the bargaining table representing basketball players, some of the highest paid union workers on the planet.

Harpur College Dean Celia Klin introduced Klempner on Thursday, Nov. 20, and thanked the Bonzanis for their “ongoing, generous and consistent commitment” to 91����. She detailed Klempner’s accomplishments, from representing players in contractor discipline grievances, as a trustee on player benefit programs and helping to unionize the WNBA players in 1988. He also helped successfully secure the first-ever collective bargaining agreement for the Next Gen Basketball Players Union.

So how did he end up going from sports writing to becoming a lawyer?

Addressing the many students in the room, he spoke openly of his mistakes but advised students to take opportunities as they come and be open to new experiences, as well as the value of relationships and the importance of treating others with respect. The journey, though, was complicated. Klempner, an English major at Harpur, went on to earn a law degree from Hofstra University.

“I eventually did gather some skills to be able to write a coherent sentence. I was able to write my way onto the Law Review, which then opened the door for me to get an internship with a judge on the Second Circuit,” he said. “Because I had that on my resume, I was able to go and get a clerkship.”

Klempner began his career clerking for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, practicing litigation under sports labor law legends Jim Quinn and Jeff Kessler. Since then, he has championed the rights of NBA players through seven rounds of collective bargaining, including the lockouts in 1995, 1998 and 2011, the “bubble” restart in 2020 and the current 2023 agreement, which is expected to provide nearly $50 billion to the players in salaries and benefits over its seven-year term.

As he wrapped up, Klempner shared several of the lessons he has learned: taking projects one day at a time, showing up when you say you will and networking when you can. The most important: staying grounded and finding balance in your career.

“In a business with people who are this high-functioning, your place is not really at the front of the photo. Your place is as a supporter,” Klempner said. “You have to have a sense of perspective. Show up, do your job and then let everything else take care of itself.”