ESPN - While NBA commissioner David Stern and players' union executive Billy
Hunter meet with a federal mediator in hopes of saving the NBA season,
the league's top players are finalizing plans for a two-week exhibition
tour during what would have been the first two weeks of the regular
season, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
While the final details are still being worked out, more than a dozen of
the league's best players are working to join forces on what would be a
two-week, six-game, three-continent blockbuster tour, sources said.
In a trip that could resemble Team USA's takeover of the world stage at the 2008 Beijing Games, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Rajon Rondo, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, Carlos Boozer, Paul Pierce and Kevin Love are among the players expected to participate. Kevin Durant and Kevin Garnett, among a few others, are also contemplating joining the tour.
Atlanta business mogul Calvin Darden has been putting the tour together
with the players' agents for nearly three months. He has already
obtained signed contracts from Bryant, Wade, Bosh, Griffin, Rondo and
Pierce. Sources say he's hoping to complete the rest of the agreements,
along with insurance requirements, over the next few days.
Even so, sources warned that the tour has not yet been finalized and there's still a chance it could unravel.
The tour, scheduled to begin Oct. 30 and end Nov. 9, will make
stops in Puerto Rico, London, Macau, and Australia. Each game will be
staged in an arena that holds at least 15,000 fans. Two games each will
be played at sites in London and Australia.
Glad to know the stars actually give a shit about the fans. Sadly none of the games will be on United States soil, but hopefully they will find a way to get a television contract. To me this would be way more exciting than the first two weeks of a long NBA season. Cut back on some of the scrubs and let the all-stars go at it for a few games. Hopefully they will have a little prize money on the line so they have something to play for.
