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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 14, 2010

David Stern

TIM FRANK: Thanks for joining us for our annual pre-Playoff conference call. Joining us today are the Commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, deputy commissioner, Adam Silver, president of league and basketball operations, Joel Litvin, and executive V.P. of basketball operations, Stu Jackson. And we will now turn it over to the Commissioner for opening statements and then be glad to take your questions.
COMMISSIONER STERN: Thanks for joining us. My remarks will be brief. At the beginning of the season, we said we look forward to a season of great basketball with revitalized teams and young stars, some not-so-young stars.
Here we are going into the last evening of the season, and this has been a season of great basketball. Really, continuing the golden age of basketball that we've spoken about.
We're here on the last day with, you know, we are averaging over 100 points. The last time it was higher was in '94-'95. This is the fourth year that our scoring has increased. We have many teams averaging over 100 points. The points are not the most important thing, but the style of play and the ability to showcase the talent has been extraordinary.
We're in the midst of still exciting races at a time when we may have, you know, we could have all eight teams in the West, with 50 wins or more. We still don't know how positions 2 through 7 are going to come out. We still have three positions open the East.
It simply doesn't get better than that. We know that our fans are waiting for the Playoffs to start on Saturday. I'm waiting too, with great anticipation.
I was thinking about this press conference and saying to myself, we've seen a lot of rookies who are playing like veterans. Whether it's Tyreke Evans or Brandon Jennings, or, you know, Curry, particularly guards. We've had a good year for guards.
And I'm looking at my schedule thinking about teams that either haven't been in the Playoffs like Charlotte or Oklahoma City, or a team that hasn't been there recently in Milwaukee.
And I think we also had some veterans that are playing frisky like kids, you know. Thinking about Jason Kidd and Steve Nash and everybody talking about the match-ups that are coming in the Playoffs.
So if you're a basketball fan, this is a terrific time of year, and it's been a great year. We're very much looking forward to the 2010 NBA Playoffs. Happy to answer all of your questions.

Q. First question, has Stan Kroenke reiterated to you that he or someone in his family will remain owners of the Nuggets?
COMMISSIONER STERN: It is my expectation that the Kroenke family will remain owners of the Denver Nuggets. I wouldn't want to get too specific into the conversations, because that's protected by the owner/commissioner privilege.

Q. Secondly, Nuggets Coach George Karl has epitomized perseverance in his fight against cancer. I wanted to hear, David, your emotions about what George has gone through and what his fight means to the NBA?
COMMISSIONER STERN: Well, he has, you know, a terrific record, not only as a coach, but as a motivator of young men and a lifer in the NBA. I got a chance to talk to him briefly at All-Star when we knew what the situation was going to be before it had been made generally public.
He's got an entire league and I think country rooting for him. Knowing that he is one very brave and determined person.

Q. My question is with the hullabaloo over LeBron not playing. I know the Cavs said they didn't get many complaints, but the stories and the talk out there about LeBron somehow owing it to Cavs fans or maybe the Hawks fans tonight to play. What is your perception on a healthy player somehow owing it to the fans to play every night?
COMMISSIONER STERN: Well, over the years we've come to view it more as a team decision where we're troubled by it, because it would be our preference that healthy players play.
But sometimes players play at different levels of being nicked or bruised. And we've never wanted to get into the business of sending out truckloads of doctors analyzing whether a player was actually nicked or bruised.
And we understand the issue. We were watching with great interest when this became very public at the end of the NFL season. And nothing much came of it. For us, though we don't reach a conclusion, we watch and look at the risks of always playing, like a Brandon Roy, who did play on Sunday and was injured.
So I've put the issue on the table for discussion at the board meeting. But our inclination is that this is a matter of the teams to look at and look their fans in the face. To look their competitive colleagues in the face, and make, hopefully, the right decision.

Q. Commissioner, the Bucks, as you mentioned earlier, had surprised some in the NBA about making the Playoffs. But their attendance was down some this year, and seats were discounted all year long. Financially speaking, do you consider the Bucks on a sick list? Do you believe they need a new arena to stay viable?
COMMISSIONER STERN: I'm sorry. What was the first part of it before the new arena?

Q. Their attendance was down some this year?
COMMISSIONER STERN: I heard that. On the sick list?

Q. Financially speaking.
COMMISSIONER STERN: No, I think that it certainly is up to the Bucks to fill up their arena before we spend a lot of time thinking about a new one. Although I think it's also fair to say that the powers that be and Milwaukee understands, that the Bradley Center is reaching, you know, sort of the end. It's in the declining years of its NBA life. It will soon be amongst the oldest, non-renovated or replaced buildings in the NBA.
But I don't think that's -- that's not an immediate decision. That is something that I think people are working on and looking at there.
I think we look to the Bucks coming into the Playoffs with an exciting young team. Unfortunately, Bogut was injured, but I expect the Bucks to be up in their season tickets, with their renewals, their groups, and the whole array of business metrics for next season.

Q. I just wanted to ask you one question concerning how important it is to have ownership with local ties? And what is the economic impact of that on a team's long-term viability in that market?
COMMISSIONER STERN: What is the impact of local ownership on the market, did you say?

Q. Yeah, I said how important is it to have ownership with local ties?
COMMISSIONER STERN: I think it can be done without local ownership. We have teams that -- not a lot, but we have teams that do well with what you would call local ownership. But I think it just depends how well they're run and actually when an owner moves to the market, I think he becomes local.
That said, local ownership with business connections in different communities with more friends and a deeper sort of address book to lean on is a very helpful and constructive thing for the operation of a team.

Q. I know you mentioned some story lines at the beginning of your statement. Do you have a favorite story line this season? If you don't want to single out your favorite child, what have you made of Oklahoma City's turnaround this year? What has impressed you most about it?
COMMISSIONER STERN: They're clearly a great story. They've got a young roster. They're in a new city for them. They're growing together. They've obviously captured the imagination of the city. Their business performance is extraordinary and they're in the process of further modernizing and expanding their arena.
They're doing it in a partnership that includes the private sector, the public sector, the fans, and the team. It really is a wonderful success story for us. We're really happy with Clay Bennett and his fellow investors because they've invested extraordinary sums into that team to make Oklahoma City proud.

Q. Quick follow-up on the question about LeBron. You said you're going to bring this to the board of governors, but you don't expect it to be much other than a discussion? Is it possible that it will be something substantive?
COMMISSIONER STERN: I think I have it on as a discussion item, because I think it's a fair item for discussion. I'm not sure that the policing function is something that the league and the owners will want to get deeply involved in. But it's a point, and I'll be expressing my views to the governors in executive session.

Q. Separate issue here. I'm curious how you reacted if you were troubled by the reports out of Chicago in regards to Mr. Paxson and Mr. DelNegro, and whether the league has a role to play here in terms of is there disciplinary action when there is a physical struggle between front office members or anything like that? Does the league play any role in the investigation here?
COMMISSIONER STERN: It's been brought to my attention. It sounded to me like what we call a scuffle in practice. This time there was a scuffle in the locker room. But I'll be talking to the Chicago representative at the board meeting to try to get a deeper understanding of whether it's something the league should become involved in.
It's not something, if it happened -- if it happened, it's not something that should. And we'll be talking to Chicago about that.

Q. And the league does not generally discipline front office members for something like this?
COMMISSIONER STERN: Well, you know, we have a checkered history here. Let's see. I don't have our entire list of what we've done. But my guess is that over the years we have taken action of some kind if people engage in conduct that is detrimental to the league.
I want to understand better exactly how detrimental this was and what actually occurred. It's nothing that we're going to take accounts on a continuing basis. But I want to understand better before I lay down some rules here.

Q. In regards to this board meeting, when is that? What month or date exactly is that?
COMMISSIONER STERN: The board meeting? Tomorrow.

Q. Tomorrow. Okay.
COMMISSIONER STERN: Tomorrow and Friday. It's what commissioners live for.

Q. Okay, I'm sure. You spoke at the beginning of the call how most likely on the season how it's been a great season, great races, you know, playoff spots still to be determined tonight. Players and rookies playing like veterans, veterans playing like rookies. Are you at all concerned with what the season could be remembered for in regards to the black mark of the Gilbert Arenas story, and whether or not that could cloud all of the other good stories that happened over the season?
COMMISSIONER STERN: No, no, I'm not.

Q. No, okay.
COMMISSIONER STERN: I think that what happens is you get judged not by conduct that you can't possibly anticipate, but you get judged by how you respond to that conduct. I think they responded appropriately. It's going to be a thing of the past. I think our players understand the message. And most importantly, Gilbert understands the message and will return to our league as a great contributor.

Q. I wanted to follow up on the Chicago question. I was curious if you would begin an investigation, you've addressed that. But I just wondered in terms of the standard you hold executives to in relation to the standard you hold players to when altercations occur. You compared it to a locker room scuffle. But if these allegations are true, would not an executive be held to a higher standard than a player?
COMMISSIONER STERN: Yes, yes. Executive is held to at least as high a standard. The reality is over the years we've had scuffles in the locker room by players on a regular basis. It just happens in the heat of the moment. We usually, you know, don't take action unless it's gotten more out of hand.
But there is no question that executives should be held to at least as high a standard. We will be getting information on that in the course of the next couple of days.

Q. I wanted to just talk about, obviously you've kind of gone over what needs to be changed in the salary structure of how and the revenue structure of how the league is going. Are you troubled by some of, I guess, the spending of the owners? I guess this has become a league where a lot of contracts are being bought out. There is a lot of bad contracts, more than probably owners want. Do the owners need to make adjustments also on how they choose to spend money with the long-term deals and some of the money they offer? Or is it just simply an adjustment needs to be made by the Players Association?
COMMISSIONER STERN: The adjustment needs to be made in the rules by which -- the economic rules by which the league is run. We want the owners within the rules to compete as hard as they can, because they buy our teams. Our teams compete. They're competitors.
In the absence of rules, for example, you have what's going on in Europe now where two or three of the soccer leagues are spending themselves into complete oblivion. Our league is just on the road. We haven't reached it yet. And the owners and we are saying - the teams and we - are saying that we need a sustainable business model.
Teams will take risks, take chances if they think they can compete better. And it may work in one case or two cases. But if everyone is taking the same risks, you wind up with a model that doesn't work, and that's what we'll be addressing and are addressing in the collective bargaining agreement.
So it's really not a question of the owners or the players. It's a question of the system of the teams and the way they're going to compete going forward after the collective bargaining agreement is entered into.

Q. Would you want to avoid a situation say for example in New York where there's many players on a team who are not going to be back because they're claiming so much cap space that you have kind of useless seasons or you have situations where players are just kind of -- it seems like there's no motivation because they're simply a salary slot and not a player? It's kind of an odd situation.
COMMISSIONER STERN: Well, it's odd, but it's a competitive condition, and all of our teams have to deal with it. If a team is dealing with that, that means they haven't been successfully managed and it usually reflects itself in their record. And the fans will hold our teams accountable for their management. It's relatively simple.
On the other hand, it happens at any sport where there's salary cap. You have to have cap management to make sure that you have expiring contracts, that you can replenish your team.
And that's an interesting issue, because the issue of the cap being usually -- usually we get complaints historically that teams have no opportunity to retool because they're locked into long contracts which block them from signing free agents. Then when they allow those contracts to expire, they get complaints that you haven't have expiring contracts because the players become just numbers.
Some place in the middle, we think, is the best solution and it isn't the one that we currently have.

Q. Last summer you kind of gave the teams a little projection of what the number might be going into next year. It was a little bit low and alarming. Is there any reason to think that now that number might be higher than you originally told them?
COMMISSIONER STERN: I'm sorry, would you ask the question again? You were breaking up on my phone.

Q. In regards to the salary cap, last summer you kind of warned the teams it could be lower than what they were all projecting for next year. Is there any reason to think that number might now be higher than what you warned them?
COMMISSIONER STERN: We're hoping as we close the books that our losses will not be as high as we had projected. But the salary cap is going to still be, you know, around the same. It will not grow the way some of our teams expected it to when they entered into long-term contracts. In fact, it will drop, and that's what we've told the teams.
That said, by computing all the numbers and we have a playoff to go, but our teams have been very imaginative and resourceful with respect to sponsorship, group sales and special promotions. And we think it's, you know, it's possible that our losses will not be as large as we projected.

Q. Obviously, there's been so much talk about free agency this summer, even going back to since last year, really. Have you found anything alarming or had to warn any teams about things they maybe are saying or have said about players or anything like that? Just talk has gone on so long that maybe people fell into traps talking about it too much?
COMMISSIONER STERN: No, actually, our teams have been remarkably well behaved. I'll probably regret this after I say it, but this has been our quietest season of discussion on potential free agents. Not by the media, but by the teams.

Q. The Portland Trailblazers have been remarkably successful this season despite numerous injuries. What are your thoughts on the blazers accomplishments this season?
COMMISSIONER STERN: I think that Larry Miller and his staff have done a great job. Really retooling the roster, the pick-up of Marcus Camby when the center position was so weakened by injury, the sellout streak, the sponsorship streak. But most importantly the attachment to the community or should I say reattachment, has been terrific.
And it's a very forward looking team. I know they recently got the gold league certification of the building, and that was celebrated last weekend. It's really turning into a model franchise.
And Paul Allen is to be applauded for staying with it and really justifying the team to the good people of Portland who are responding in an extraordinary way.

Q. Also, as you've known, there has been some turmoil in the Blazers front office with the assistant GM Tom Penn being fired about a month ago, and Kevin Pritchard's job status being in question. Wonder if you have any thoughts on or comments on that?
COMMISSIONER STERN: I'm not going to ask if there were any physical altercations. Welcome to the NBA. There are always comings and goings at coaching level, front office level and the like. I think the people of Portland have, I think, taken it very seriously because they've become quite attached to their team, and it makes interesting reading and interesting headlines. Just shows how much they care and how much the team cares about the city. But I don't have an opinion on that subject.

Q. How do you see the players of the Brazilian players in the NBA? And with Brazil hosting the 2016 Olympic games, is there a chance for Brazil to to get a preseason NBA game?
COMMISSIONER STERN: Well, I think our Brazilian players enrich our league and always have and are going to be very much involved and determined in our Playoffs. Whether it's Nene, or Varejoa or, you know, Barbosa. We are very proud of our players.
But the Brazilians should be very proud of the contribution that the Brazilian players are making to the NBA. I think that by 2016, I think we will -- let me think. By 2016 we will play an exhibition game in Brazil. I'm not sure about a regular season game. But we are looking to enhance our footprint and play exhibition games in Latin America beyond Mexico.

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