NBPA President Patrick Ewing said NBA Commissioner
David Stern was "wrong" to issue statements last week that a
boycott by NBA players of this summer's World Championships
in Greece would be a decision to "trash their country,"
according to Frank Isola of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Ewing said
that although he has "a lot of respect" for Stern, the
commissioner's statements made his "respect for [Stern]
diminish somewhat." Ewing: "Ever since we've been having
the labor negotiations, he's always tried to put us in a
negative light by using that over our heads, and I think
it's wrong. It's all about economics, that's why they have
the NBA players participating in the Olympics and playing in
the World Championships" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/9).
LABOR MEETING SET? SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Josh
Gotthelf reports that players and owners will "likely" meet
face to face this week "for the first time in a month" to
discuss a new CBA (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/8 issue).
THE NBA'S MINI-SERIES: In Akron, part three of Chris
Tomasson's five-part series on the state of the NBA examines
the league's ticket prices and carries the sub-head, "With
Ticket Prices Soaring, Corporate Types Only Ones Who Can
Afford To Attend NBA Games" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 6/9).
