NBA World Tour: All-Star Games Lose Luster with Superstar Dropouts
What’s the easiest way to kill the buzz of a new idea? Leave out the stars.
Like U2 without Bono or Ghostbusters without Bill Murray, you need the big name to help sell the product. That’s why the NBA World Tour, set to kick off on Sunday in Puerto Rico, is going to fail miserably.
ESPN’s Chris Broussard is reporting that LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul have all decided to skip the tour with “previous obligations.” So will reigning MVP Derrick Rose.
And the crowd goes silent.
An ambitious trip that also includes trips to London, Macau and Melbourne was supposed to give international fans a glimpse at the top talent in the NBA. With most of the proceeds going to charity, it was a great idea hatched by Atlanta businessman Calvin Darden. Yet now that three of the larger-than-life stars of the league have dropped out, it makes you wonder if the attendance will be as high as it could have been.
Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard are all still participating, so it’s not like elite players won’t be there. Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, Paul Pierce, Steve Nash and Kevin Love are all potential candidates as well.
But how many players aside from LeBron and Carmelo does the average fan overseas know? I’ll give you Kobe, D-Wade and maybe Howard…but that’s about it. No offense to Love, but being an excellent rebounder on the worst team in the NBA won’t exactly make fans travel hundreds of miles to go watch.
It’s just the latest poor attempt for the players to get under the skin of the owners. All of their contract agreements with teams overseas are not serious; it’s all just for the media to over-analyze to death. As are the glorified scrimmages being conducted in dark gyms across the country.
As the NBA lockout reaches month No. 5, the players are running out of ways to stay in the headlines. An overseas tour without three of the biggest names in the game isn’t going to do a whole lot to change that.
Chalk up the world tour as reason No. 1,332,495 why the lockout needs to end.
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Report: LeBron won’t play in World Tour
Miami Heat superstar LeBron James will not play in the upcoming NBA World Tour due to prior commitments, the Sun-Sentinel reported Wednesday.
In addition to James, ESPN reported that Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul also will not participate.
The six-game World Tour kicks off Sunday in Puerto Rico, then will move to O2 Arena in London on Nov. 1 and 3. The fourth game is slated to be Nov. 6 in Macau, with the final two games Nov. 8 and 9 in Melbourne, Australia.
Most of the proceeds from the tour will go to charity, while the players, including Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard will be paid between $500,000 and $1 million each, ESPN reported.
The final 18-man roster has yet to be released. Among the possible participants are Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, Paul Pierce, Steve Nash and Kevin Love.
Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, last season’s MVP, said Wednesday he would not make the trip because he already committed to play in a USO-backed exhibition on Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.
The tour was put together over the past three months by Atlanta businessman Calvin Darden, as the NBA lockout heads toward a fifth month.
The NBA owners and Players Association met Wednesday in New York in a bid to move toward a deal before the league cancels more games. The first two weeks of the regular season, which would have started Nov. 1, have been called off.
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Rondo, Pierce, KG all part of global tour?
I mentioned this a few days ago, but now that the barnstorming tour of Puerto Rico, London, China and Australia is a reality, it’s looking like a few Celtics will be part of the fun.
Puerto Rican promoters had been waiting on signed agreements from 10 of the 18 players expected to play in the game, a $12,500 payment to begin the sale of tickets and evidence of a global television package, sources said.
Players such as Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett, Carmelo Anthony, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Love have been promised as participants to tour promoters.
And from ESPN:
Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade andKevin Durant will headline the roster of 18 all-star players, sources said.
The remaining 14 players will be announced Wednesday. LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Carlos Boozer,Tyson Chandler, Steve Nash, Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo and Chris Kaman are among the candidates.
So it'…
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Kobe Bryant & Lebron James “World All-Star Classic” Tour Dates Announced
Last week we reported how some of the NBA stars during the Lockout was planning their own tour (Kobe Bryant & Lebron James Planning Worldwide Barnstorming Tour).
Those plans have been finalized, Kobe and the crew are on their way to make a few quick dollars while the NBA cancels more games.
Nearly two dozen of the NBA’s top stars will embark on a six-game, two-week, four-continent tour that begins Sunday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
The tour, dubbed the World All-Star Classic, was first reported last week by ESPN.com and has been in the works for the past three months, but terms and logistics are now finalized and an official announcement will be made by the tour’s organizers on Wednesday.
Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant will headline the roster of 18 all-star players, sources said.
The remaining 14 players will be announced Wednesday. LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Carlos Boozer, Tyson Chandler, Steve Nash, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo and Chris Kaman are among the candidates.
The first game will be played Sunday, Oct. 30, in San Juan at Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum. Tickets for the game will go on sale in Puerto Rico Wednesday afternoon.
The next two games will be on Nov. 1 and 3 at the O2 Arena in London. Game 4 will be played Nov. 6 in Macau in the Cotai Arena at the Venetian Hotel, and the tour will close in Melbourne, Australia with games at Rod Laver Arena on Nov. 8 and 9.
If they really wanted to make a point they should take their salaries and put it in a pool for the rank and file NBA players and employees who might be struggling during the lockout, but you know that isn’t going to happen.
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Report: Amar’e to play in NBA World Tour
New York Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire has committed to play in the NBA World Tour, the New York Post reported Monday.
The planned junket is expected to become official with an announcement early this week.
Stoudemire’s teammate, Carmelo Anthony, said last week during a local appearance that he is on board for the six-game, four-continent exhibition, which could begin next weekend.
According to an ESPN report Sunday, players are signing contracts that could pay them between $100,000 and $1 million. It stated 14 players have committed contractually, but insurance issues make it a complicated process.
Cal Darden, an Atlanta businessman, is staging the tour that would include Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and NBA MVP Derrick Rose. The tour is scheduled to begin Oct. 30 in Puerto Rico. Also on tap are two games in London, one in Macau and two games in Australia.
Last night, Anthony and Stoudemire were in Oklahoma City, playing in a charity game organized by the Thunder’s Kevin Durant.
The planning of the world tour comes with the NBA labor negotiations at a stalemate. The latest round of talks broke up Thursday night with the owners and players unable to agree on how to split the league’s $4 billion in annual revenue.
The first two weeks of the regular season have already been canceled, and an announcement of more cancellations is expected this week since no further negotiating sessions are planned.
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Shaquille O’Neal Visits China for Tour, Meets Up With Yao Ming
The news that Thursday’s NBA labor negotiations broke down was bad news for basketball fans, but it was great news for Shaquille O’Neal’s travel agent. The longer the lockout continues, the more time the Big Marco Polo will have to travel the globe. He is visiting China, where he’s providing video updates of his activities. Those include eating exotic foods like “snake juice” and meeting up with retired Rockets center Yao Ming. Check out some highlights from Shaq’s trip in the videos below. See all Shaq’s videos on Tout.
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NBA Rumors: LeBron James and Company Planning World Tour, According to Reports
The latest news from the NBA rumor mill speculates that LeBron James and many of his young NBA companions are planning a world tour. NBA Rumors
According to ESPN, an Atlanta business man—along with the players’ agents—has been organizing a tour for the past three months and is hoping to seal the deal in the next few days.
This ragtag group of barnstormers will likely take the global stage to play exhibition games during what was supposed to be the first two weeks of the 2012 NBA regular season.
Sorry, did I say “ragtag group of barnstormers,” I should have said “entourage heavy group of multi-millionaires.”
Proposed exhibition sights for the tour would include Puerto Rico, London, Macau and Australia.
The reported NBA superstars that are signed on are as follows: Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Blake Griffin, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love.
Now, there are two ways you can look at this.
This first is that these players simply want to stay in shape and continue to play basketball during the NBA lockout.
They are putting this tour together to stay sharp and at the same time bringing the joy of basketball to the rest of the world. Isn’t it great that they all get along so well that they can pull something like this together?
You could say that, but I prefer to look at it the second way.
This whole exhibition is a statement meant to thumb their collective noses at the NBA. And when I say NBA, I mean David Stern.
It is the superstar athlete version of taking their ball and going home. While showing David Stern that they don’t need the NBA to play basketball, these players will go play anywhere and people will come to watch.
If this goes well, the next logical step would be to just start their own league.
Let’s summarize. These NBA stars are so concerned about the fans and ending the NBA lockout that instead of sticking around and working to end this thing they are going on what amounts to a road trip?
You remember going on road trips in college don’t you? You and your buddies sitting around the dorm—no classes for whatever reason—just playing video games and eating Doritos. Then someone yells, “ROAD TRIP!” and you all jump in your 1989 Honda Civic and drive to Ann Arbor to party.
Ok, maybe that was just me.
But, that is basically what these NBA guys are doing. Except they won’t be piling into a Civic, it will be a learjet.
Here is a suggestion, how about doing a basketball tour here in the United States? You know, staging a tour on your home turf where all your fans are. The fans that you expect to stay loyal to you after the lockout is done. The fans that shell out their hard-earned money to watch you play. The same fans that are not able to watch games currently because of the lockout. How about doing something for them?
Please don’t think that these players are doing this for free either. Some of the money will go to charity, yes, but according to Insidehoops.com those participating in the tour will earn a salary ranging from “six figures up to $1 million.”
What do you expect, they need to make a living too.
Remember back in the ’80s and early ’90s when basketball was at its apex and the best athletes wanted to rip each others hearts out? You would have never seen Magic and Bird go on vacation together in the offseason. Isaiah Thomas and Michael Jordan still don’t talk to each other.
Now, all our greatest NBA stars are chums. They text each other every day and are Facebook friends. They join up and take over teams. No one really wants to be “the man” anymore. They want to win Championships, but with their buddies. This is why an exhibition tour like the one proposed can even happen.
My point is: Times have changed. This kind thing would never have happened in the days of Jordan and Bird. They were too busy getting better so they could kick each others’ butts.
In the end, I don’t think these NBA stars are intentionally dissing their fans in the United States. I just think they are oblivious. They lack the insight to think about things from the perspective of others, namely their fanbase.
But in the big scheme of things, I think this is just another example of what is wrong with the NBA.
With the lockout taking more games away from fans by the week, is this what basketball really needs?
Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
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NBA Rumors: Lebron James and Company Planning World Tour
The latest news from the NBA rumor mill speculates that LeBron James and many of his young NBA companions are planning a world tour.
According to Insidehoops.com, an Atlanta business man—along with the players’ agents—has been organizing a tour for the past three months and is hoping to seal the deal in the next few days.
This ragtag group of barnstormers will likely take the global stage to play exhibition games during what was supposed to be the first two weeks of the 2012 NBA regular season.
Sorry, did I say “ragtag group of barnstormers,” I should have said “entourage heavy group of multi-millionaires.”
Proposed exhibition sights for the tour would include Puerto Rico, London, Macau and Australia.
The reported NBA superstars that are signed on are as follows: Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Blake Griffin, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love.
Now, there are two ways you can look at this.
This first is that these players simply want to stay in shape and continue to play basketball during the NBA lockout.
They are putting this tour together to stay sharp and at the same time bringing the joy of basketball to the rest of the world. Isn’t it great that they all get along so well that they can pull something like this together?
You could say that, but I prefer to look at it the second way.
This whole exhibition is a statement meant to thumb their collective noses at the NBA. And when I say NBA, I mean David Stern.
It is the superstar athlete version of taking their ball and going home. While showing David Stern that they don’t need the NBA to play basketball, these players will go play anywhere and people will come to watch.
If this goes well, the next logical step would be to just start their own league.
Let’s summarize. These NBA stars are so concerned about the fans and ending the NBA lockout that instead of sticking around and working to end this thing they are going on what amounts to a road trip?
You remember going on road trips in college don’t you? You and your buddies sitting around the dorm—no classes for whatever reason—just playing video games and eating Doritos. Then someone yells, “ROAD TRIP!” and you all jump in your 1989 Honda Civic and drive to Ann Arbor to party.
Ok, maybe that was just me.
But, that is basically what these NBA guys are doing. Except they won’t be piling into a Civic, it will be a learjet.
Here is a suggestion, how about doing a basketball tour here in the United States? You know, staging a tour on your home turf where all your fans are. The fans that you expect to stay loyal to you after the lockout is done. The fans that shell out their hard-earned money to watch you play. The same fans that are not able to watch games currently because of the lockout. How about doing something for them?
Please don’t think that these players are doing this for free either. Some of the money will go to charity, yes, but according to Insidehoops.com those participating in the tour will earn a salary ranging from “six figures up to $1 million.”
What do you expect, they need to make a living too.
Remember back in the ’80s and early ’90s when basketball was at its apex and the best athletes wanted to rip each others hearts out? You would have never seen Magic and Bird go on vacation together in the offseason. Isaiah Thomas and Michael Jordan still don’t talk to each other.
Now, all our greatest NBA stars are chums. They text each other every day and are Facebook friends. They join up and take over teams. No one really wants to be “the man” anymore. They want to win Championships, but with their buddies. This is why an exhibition tour like the one proposed this can even happen.
My point is: Times have changed. This kind thing would never have happened in the days of Jordan and Bird. They were too busy getting better so they could kick each others’ butts.
In the end, I don’t think these NBA stars are intentionally dissing their fans in the United States. I just think they are oblivious. They lack the insight to think about things from the perspective of others, namely their fanbase.
But in the big scheme of things, I think this is just another example of what is wrong with the NBA.
With the lockout taking more games away from fans by the week, is this what basketball really needs?
Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – NBA
Tell us: Does an NBA All-Star exhibition tour interest you?
How far will NBA fans go to find product? Will an exhibition tour of All-Stars be enough to scratch the itch?
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Your Morning Dump… Where Rondo & Pierce are going on tour
Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
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.
ESPN: NBA stars plan exhibition tour
So the rest of the world gets to see the basketball that we so desperately crave? Great. I look forward to the grainy, jumpy live streams.
Rondo and Pierce are officially signed for the tour. KG is still “possible” (guess anything is with him, AMIRITE?!?!!1!).
I’m actually not holding my breath for KG. These ol…
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