Stern hopes James stays with Cavs

[duncan228]

Stern hopes James stays with Cavs (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-stern-freeagency)
By Tom Withers

NBA commissioner David Stern knows Cleveland fans are anxious about this summer and LeBron James’ pending free agency. He is rooting for the same outcome as Cavaliers fans.

“Hopefully he’ll stay,” Stern said Monday before Game 2 between Cleveland and Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals. “That’s the way the system is designed.”

Stern helped negotiate the current collective bargaining agreement, which provides teams the ability to pay more and add an extra year for their own free agents. Stern is hopeful that will allow teams such as Cleveland to retain its stars.

“That’s the way it should be,” Stern said. “It allows teams to keep their own players.”

Stern awarded James his second straight MVP award on Monday. He is aware of the attention dedicated to this summer, but doesn’t want it to steal the spotlight away from the rest of the postseason or this summer’s draft. Free agency doesn’t begin until July 1.

“We do have this thing called the finals,” Stern said, “and we have some great playoff games left.”

Stern called James an “extraordinary” talent before giving the trophy shortly before tip-off to James, who won in a landslide vote announced Sunday. James is the 10th player in league history to win two straight MVP awards.

With the crowd doing its customary “M-V-P!” chant, James thanked his teammates and then reminded the 20,000-plus fans that his goal is to win a championship this season.

During a news conference, Stern said he is amazed at how James can shoot halfcourt shots with a simple flick of his wrist.

“I don’t know how he shoots the ball so far so easily,” Stern said. “You get the sense if you wanted to play H-O-R-S-E with him and it was a halfcourt line, he’d shoot 50 percent.”

[mavsluva]

Of course he does. A good balance of superstars between both conferences is what makes the NBA Finals worth watching.

[Darthkiller]

what do you expect him to say while he is in cleveland . he would have been thrown out if he says he hopes lebron goes to new york.

[BRHornet45]

Stern controls where Lebron goes anyways

[Fabbs]

imo entirely inappropriate for Stern to be commenting on where Lebron choses to stay or go.

Same asstard who had nothing to say during the Kwame Brown-Gasol collusion.

[LnGrrrR]

Stern: "To be honest, Cleveland sucks. I can't see any reason why Lebron would want to stay... not when there's place like Miami to live. I mean, have you been to Miami? The women there... my God. I'm so glad I'm a rich white man.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Lebron staying in Cleveland. It's his choice, of course. If he wants to pick a crappy city that hasn't won a championship in... shoot, I don't know how long, that's his choice. I'm off to catch a plane to Miami and find me a little mamacita."

[JMarkJohns]

imo entirely inappropriate for Stern to be commenting on where Lebron choses to stay or go.

Agreed. There's no need, nor should he use his position of influence in such a manner. What if LeBron stays now? Is there going to be collusion charges brought against the Commish? I think New York might have at least the foundations of the gripe.

[greyforest]

imo entirely inappropriate for Stern to be commenting on where Lebron choses to stay or go.

Same asstard who had nothing to say during the Kwame Brown-Gasol collusion.

exactly. why is lebron treated differently than any other player in the league?*










*because he's a megastar that demands attention from the revenue he brings to the league as a whole, and gets preferential treatment from the commissioner. but that's just tinfoil hat shit right?

[The Gemini Method]

It was interesting to hear him while being interviewed post-MVP award ceremony where he was asked why leave? If this is your home, then why haven't you made a decision? He went on to say, "No matter what happens down the line, Akron will always be my home." I mean, I don't think he's going to leave when it's all said and done, but saying something like that isn't all that convincing.

[duncan228]

David Stern Wants LeBron James to Stay In Cleveland … Or Does He? (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-davidsternwantslebro)
SportingNews

Everyone wants to know where LeBron James is going this summer, so much so that it was also the biggest story of last summer. It’s like a presidential election: everyone pays too much attention to it for two years, to the point where people don’t get anything done during that period because they’re too focused on having the upper hand in the future.

Last night, David Stern weighed in on the issue while in town to present LeBron with his second-consecutive (but not unanimous) MVP award. Here’s what he told the media last night (http://www.cantonrep.com/sports/x1406502784/Cavs-Notebook-Commissioner-hopes-LeBron-stays-put), via CantonRep.com:

“The collective bargaining agreement, for which I can take credit or substantial blame,” Stern said, is designed to “encourage teams to keep their own players.” Stern made sure it allowed for teams to “pay more and pay it for longer” to its own free agents. “And in my view, that’s the way it should be. […]

“How long has he been here? … Seven years. You know that’s the deal (that he could leave after that point). … I hate to take the other side because the way I grew up, I was trained to fight against it. Hopefully, he’ll stay. That’s the way the system’s designed.”

Well, that was easy enough, right? Stern wants LeBron to stay in Cleveland, thereby building up that team’s brand and proving that the league office isn’t all about the biggest markets.

But there’s something a little fishy about all of this. Why would Stern give an opinion on this at all? If LeBron bolts this summer, wouldn’t he seem to be defying the will of the league’s top dog? That’s no recipe for leaguewide harmony.

Then again, things make a lot more sense if Stern is simply engaging in one of his classic NBA conspiracies, like when he deep-fried an envelope to ensure that the Knicks would win the lottery to pick Patrick Ewing in 1985. Imagine, for a minute, that the five volcano-dwelling lizard bankers who run the NBA told Stern to make these comments so that the public would believe he wants LeBron to stay in Cleveland, even though behind the scenes everyone is working to put James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh in New York.

Sure, maybe that seems like too complicated an explanation. But you can never know what Stern’s holding up his sleeve, especially when it involves free agency. Everyone knows that he’ll do anything possible to help the biggest teams in the league. Why do you think the Celtics won last night, anyway?

Or maybe he just wants to give the summer firestorm as much attention as possible so the NBA stays in people’s minds past the end of the playoffs. Stern is nothing if not a relentless promoter.

[Giuseppe]

imo entirely inappropriate for Stern to be commenting on where Lebron choses to stay or go.

Same asstard who had nothing to say during the Kwame Brown-Gasol collusion.

3 more like last night and you'll be beggin' for like collusion, or, a casket & plot in greater San Antonio.

tee, hee.

[mavsfan1000]

Stern is such a control freak. I hate him.

[TampaDude]

Fuck Stern...he needs to STFU.

[san antonio spurs]

Stern is not controlling where Lebron goes. He's stating that the CBA is designed to give some kind of advantage to the home team to keep their stars. He's not doing it because it's Lebron. He negotiated this clause way before that. It's a matter of the system working the same way for everybody else.

[Basketballgirl25]

Stern is such a control freak. I hate him.

If you hate Stern so much don't watch basketball, then you won't have to hate him:toast

[HarlemHeat37]

Stern is a great commish, I don't know why he gets such a bad rap..especially when you compare him to idiots like Bettman and Selig, 2 cowards that don't know what they're doing..

[coyotes_geek]

Stern lies. He wants the league's biggest star in the league's biggest market. It's not up to him of course, but if it were, he'd much rather see Lebron as a Knick.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

"Hopefully he'll stay." I agree it's inappropriate for the league's commish to make a public statement like that. I think he tried to turn it into a chance to sing the praises of the CBA with the spectre of lock out looming, but those three words cross a line. He should have just played it cool and said something like, "I just hope he doesn't go to Europe."