By Gary Washburn, Globe Staff

HOUSTON ' In an expected and in what many players felt was a necessary move, the National Basketball Association Players Association ousted executive director Billy Hunter on Saturday afternoon, as president Derek Fisher made the announcement in a brief press conference at a downtown hotel.

Fisher said he will remain president of the NBPA with San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner as vice president. The move to remove Hunter is yet another chapter in what has become an internal melodrama plagued by infighting in the union.

In April 2012, the executive committee voted 8-0 to ask Fisher for his resignation, the first major sign there was a power struggle and dissension between Fisher and Hunter. Fisher refused to resign and instead called for an investigation into Hunter's tactics as executive director.

In January, an independent firm investigated several accusations of Hunter and the union and released a scathing review of Hunter's conduct as executive director. And although no criminal or illegal actions were discovered, the report called for several major changes in the union, accusing Hunter of nepotism, ratifying his lucrative contract extension without full union approval, taking excessive vacation time, investing union money in his son's fledging bank and also using union funds to purchase gifts for union members.

Hunter quickly fired his family members, reduced the power of his own post and adjusted other union regulations but many players felt the move was desperate and far too late. Celtics forward Paul Pierce, the team's union representative, told the Globe last month that he wanted Hunter removed.

And the consensus amongst many player representatives around the league was that Hunter's dealings as executive director called for his removal