Stephen Curry said LeBron James was "very vocal" in NBA players' union meeting

LAS VEGAS –- Former Cleveland Cavaliers forward Drew Gooden said it was good to not only see LeBron James seated up front with union leadership Monday, but to see him at a National Basketball Players' Association meeting at all.

"I'm jokingly saying this because I'm his boy, I'd never seen 'Bron at a meeting before," said Gooden, now with the Washington Wizards, following the players' union summer meetings at the Four Seasons hotel in Las Vegas. "It was good to see where he's at and the value of him being there as a union."

James was elected the union's first executive vice president during the All-Star break, and this was his first meeting filling that chair.

James' election and his message Monday, according to several players who attended the meetings, was one about unity, power for the players, and union participation (like, say, showing up for the meetings) ahead of likely new collective bargaining sessionswith NBA owners over the next two years.

Either side can opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement, and the players have their eye on pulling in a larger share of the $24 billion a nine-year TV dealwill pump into the league beginning in 2016.

The players took no action on the collective bargaining agreement – it's way too early for that – nor did they do anything formal with issues like cameramen being too close to the court.

But players described a lively discussion led by James, union president Chris Paul, and others like Finals MVP Andre Iguodala and even former Cavalier Lou Amundson about getting on the same page as a union before going back to the bargaining table.

"We have a lot of voices, a lot of people were vocal, but he talked about what it takes to get to the next level as a union," said Stephen Curry, the reigning NBA MVP. "It wasn't anything specific, but he was very vocal."

Amundson, whom the Cavs traded to New York as part of the deal for J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, said "I think we're in a really unique position right now as a union, with the growth of this league and all the money coming in to increase our significance in this collective bargaining situation with the NBA."

"Going into the last lockout, I felt like that was a big issue for us," Amundson said. "The more unified and the more significant that we are, the more money we have coming in and the more streams of revenue we have, the better off we are going into negotiations.

"A lot of the meeting was geared toward how do we do that? There were a lot of good ideas. I think LeBron made some good points about kind of our strategy going forward with that."

James politely declined comment as he whisked away in a black SUV from the Four Seasons. But in October, before he held a formal position of power in the union, he spoke at length about the need for more players to understand the business side of basketball and how to maximize earning potential.

James also believes unity is key in negotiating with the owners, especially after 2011 negotiations which produced a lockout and large concessions from the players - in their view. Under the current agreement, they'll get 51 percent of the new TV money.)

Former Cavalier and current San Antonio sharpshooter Danny Green said James "pretty much helped the players understand things about backing the union.

"And letting them know we should have faith in some of the decisions they made," Green said. "He did a great job for his first time. He understands it well, he broke it down well for guys to understand. Chris did a good job also. He (LeBron) did what all great rep leaders do, he broke it down for us so we can understand and make decisions and pass it on to our teammates for votes."

Gooden said after playing 12 seasons without much participation in union affairs, James served Monday as the "voice of the guys on the other side of the podium.

"I'm glad he's here to bridge that gap," Gooden said.