Dominique Wilkins still hasn't been told how many of his 1986-87 Atlanta Hawks retro jerseys have been sold, but confusion over the licensing royalties he is entitled to became clearer Friday.

Earlier this week, Wilkins told ESPN.com he had retained an attorney to look into the accounting behind the sales of his jersey, which was one of the best-selling at the All-Star Game in Atlanta three weeks ago. Although Wilkins signed a licensing agreement with the NBA in 2001, and said he subsequently received his first check from the league about four months ago, he said he was told by an NBA accountant that, in general, licensing money from retired players royalties usually go to the NBA Retired Players Association (NBARPA).

However, on Friday, NBARPA executive director Mel Davis and the organization's president and former Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton confirmed to ESPN.com that the organization has not and will not in the near future receive licensing royalties from sales of Wilkins jerseys for as long as he has a separate deal with the NBA.

When the NBA does a deal that involves the names or images of retired players, the NBARPA receives seven percent from the gross retail price of the product in licensing royalties, Eaton said. When the licensed product involves players that don't have separate deals with the NBA and have signed the NBARPA agreement, the NBARPA takes a four percent cut to fund its operational budget, medical benefits and college scholarships and gives three percent to the player, who normally gives it back to the organization.

Since Wilkins has a separate deal with the NBA -- as does Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the estate of Wilt Chamberlain -- checks are cut directly to him.

"It's unfortunate that both Dominique and his lawyer didn't think before they talked," said NBARPA league counsel and former NBA player Jack Marin. "The allegations (that there was money that they were not receiving) were unfortunate and baseless."

Wilkins said Friday that he won't be satisfied until he finds out the number of his jerseys that have been sold and the math behind the checks from the NBA are explained to him.

"I've just asked questions," Wilkins said. "It's not like I had a vendetta against them or that I'm trying to take $2 million or $3 million."

Wilkins said he also isn't sure that all the former players whose names are appearing on the back of retro jerseys know the deal.

"A lot of players have had issues about this," Wilkins said. "I don't want them to use me as a whipping boy, because they've got a lot of players to answer to."

Eaton disagreed with Wilkins' assessment. "I think we've been very clear to a majority of our players concerning what is going on," Eaton said. "And we have an office in New York for those that have questions and need to get the right information."

Because some players have been confused over where their royalty money goes from the sale of retro jerseys -- which have become extremely "in" particularly over the last eight months -- NBARPA personnel have called players whose jerseys are generating significant dollars for the organization to make sure they know of their option to opt out of the deal and sign a separate deal with the NBA, Davis said.

Alex English, whose Denver Nuggets jersey is very popular, recently opted out, as did Los Angeles Lakers great Jerry West. Moses Malone and David Thompson -- whose Spirits of St. Louis and Denver Nuggets jerseys, respectively, are top-sellers -- decided to earmark all their royalties to the NBARPA.

Mitchell & Ness, the main manufacturer of the throwbacks that have been popularized by hip-hop artists and athletes, earned $2.8 million in total sales across all sports in 2000, $23 million last year and revenues are expected to surpass $40 million this year, said owner Peter Capolino. Helped by the retro jersey craze, NBA merchandise sales were up 30 percent from the sales generated during last year's All-Star game weekend.

The NBA deal is complicated since the league administers royalties on the jerseys, which is not the case with the other three major leagues. Capolino said he cuts individual checks to 47 NFL players, 30 Major League Baseball players and 15 NHL players to use their names on the back.

The NBARPA agreement has been in place since 1993, but Davis -- who became the executive director in 1999 -- looks forward to negotiating a better deal for his former players next year.

"We feel very proud of what we are doing, which is more than ever before," Davis said. "There has just been a lot of misunderstandings due to these retro jerseys and in our next deal, we will make it so that it is a win for the league office and a win for the players, so they feel like they are not being taken advantage of."

Davis said he was shocked to hear that Wilkins was dissatisfied with his deal. Three weeks ago, when Davis presented Wilkins with an award during the NBA All-Star Game weekend in Atlanta, Davis said Wilkins never said anything to him about retro jersey sales.

According to a source with knowledge of Mitchell & Ness' sales, less than 2,000 Wilkins' jerseys have been sold across the country.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn3.com.