In the wake of a report by a Puerto Rico newspaper last week, ESPN and Yahoo are reporting that a group of NBA stars that would include the Miami Heat 's Chris Bosh and LeBron James are poised to participate in a six-game world all-star tour from Oct. 30 through Nov. 9, with stops in Puerto Rico, London, Macau and Australia.
While the event is contingent on the continuation of the NBA's work stoppage, the NBA already has cancelled games scheduled through Nov. 15, with additional rolling cancellations expected to be forthcoming if there is no progress in the federal mediation that continues Thursday afternoon.
According to the ESPN report, Wade and Bosh already have signed contracts for the six-game tour, with James expected to follow.
Also listed as possible participants are Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant , Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin , Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose , New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony , New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul , Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire , Boston Celtics guard Oklahoma City Thunder guard Carlos Boozer , Celtics forward Paul Pierce , Thunder forward Kevin Durant and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love .
James, Wade, Paul, Anthony, Stoudemire and Westbrook are scheduled to compete in an exhibition Sunday in Oklahoma City being organized by Durant.
Unlike the domestic tour of lockout exhibitions, which have been held in smaller venues, such as the 4,500-seat arena at Florida International University that hosted the all-star event presented by James, Wade and Bosh two weeks ago, the superstar tour would utilize arenas closer in size to NBA venues.
Because of the impending lockout, the NBA did not schedule international play for this preseason.
As with all events amid the lockout, NBA personnel, executives, coaches and training and medical staff are not allowed to assist in such games.
According to the reports, compensation for the tour with run from six figures to $1 million per player, plus expenses.
No comments:
Post a Comment