The "romance is gone from the" U.S. men's basketball
Dream Team, according to Charean Williams of the ORLANDO
SENTINEL, who writes that the U.S. men's team "failed even
to sell out the house at the Orlando Arena" yesterday for
its victory over Canada in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament
of the Americas. The announced crowd was 5,212, and
Williams writes, "The fans were missing and so was the
patriotism. ... Maybe it's time to rethink NBA players
representing us in the Olympics" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/12).
Also in Orlando, L.C. Johnson calls the crowd "listless."
U.S. team member Kevin Garnett said fans "weren't as charged
as we would like" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/12).
OVER THERE, OVER THERE! BUSINESS WEEK's Jeffrey Garten
writes that NBA Commissioner David Stern "shouldn't be
smiling too much," as the league's operating profits "have
declined" from $195M in '93 "to a loss" of $25M this year.
While a new CBA "will definitely help," Stern's "biggest
moneymaking opportunities could lie abroad," as only 10% of
gross NBA revenues "currently come from overseas." While
Stern "hasn't been idle," the NBA's "approach to
globalization is conservative, requiring little capital and
incurring few risks. It needs to be more aggressive,
especially while it is still hot" (BUSINESS WEEK, 7/19).
