The National Basketball Association's players have hired a female to be their union chief, making civil litigator Michele Roberts the first female to be hired as a union chief for a professional sports league.

Roberts, who was noted for her experience as a trial attorney by Washingtonian magazine, won 32 of a possible 39 votes from player representatives. 

NBA Players Association President Chris Paul noted that Roberts' gender would not be an issue in Roberts' ability to communicate with her constituents:

 "Even though she's a female, she's very relatable to a lot of our players. I think that's what really hit home for not only myself but some of these other guys as well."

The hiring of Roberts caps a year of progressive social changes for the NBA. Last summer, NBA player Jason Collins came out as the first active gay male athlete in major American sports, and this spring the league took steps to remove Donald Sterling as the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers franchise after secretly-made recordings of him making racially charged remarks were released.