|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 7, 2012David SternCOMMISSIONER STERN: Thank you, everybody, for coming. I'm delighted to be back in Milan. We've probably played NBA team have played as many as 17 games in Italy dating back to 1984, and this is a great time to be a basketball fan. This is our sixth annual NBA Europe Live Tour. Tonight's game is one of seven international friendlies in Europe, in Mexico, and in China. We have teams that are playing as we speak all over the world. The NBA Mexico City game is tonight in Mexico City. It is also brought to our fans by BBVA to whom we're quite thankful. But I leave from here to China where we have the Heat and the Clippers playing two games in Shanghai and Beijing. As you know, the Celtics last played in Istanbul, last night the Mavs played in Berlin, and on Tuesday, the Mavs will play FC Barcelona in Barcelona. I very much want to thank our friends at the Euroleague. Rosa Coralto (Indiscernible) and Andrea Bassani who have worked hard to be our partners in this entire tour. It's been great. I want to thank BBVA. It's been a great partner, and I also want to thank Sprite, adidas, and 2K Sports. They're the one that's brought us here. I also note that Wyc Groesbeck, the managing partner of the team together with Steve Pagliuca, have traveled here with the team and I'm grateful for that. You know, the Celtics actually were one of the first teams to play in Europe. In 1988 they played in the McDonald's Championship in Madrid, and they also participated in 2007 in the NBA Europe Live. So they've been a great contributor to the growth of basketball. Giving back to the community is part of everything we do. The Celtics conducted yesterday a clinic for 30 Special Olympic athletes, and they did a great job there. We think that combines with what we do. We do well, but we also want to do good, and social responsibility is a very important part of what we do. The turnout at the Piazza Duomo was more than we could have hoped for in terms of the fans expression of interest in terms of the growth of our game. We had meetings today with the Italian Basketball Federation to find ways that we could continue to grow the game by having more young people play the game and we talked about the possibility of additional visits by NBA teams and national teams. We'll see how that works out. We then had a meeting with our very, very good partner Sky Italia, Sky Sports that's going to be televising tonight's game and televising NBA games on a regular basis. They're a very, very important connection to our fans in Italy. We're looking for ways to even grow that exposure, and we had a very good discussion with Sky Italia on that point. We're looking forward to a great game. I'm sure the Celtics are too. I'm sure they'd like to go home with at least one victory, but we'll see how that works out. Again, thank you for coming, and we're happy to answer any questions. Q. What are the plans for perhaps having a regular season game overseas at some point, and how much do you think you'll be expanding the preseason slate? COMMISSIONER STERN: I guess I would say number one, with some pride, that the first regular season game ever played by an American sports league was in 1991 in Tokyo. I was there with the Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz. Subsequent to that, I think we played perhaps three other regular season games‑‑ actually, six others. We played two each in each season in Japan. We've played a regular season game in Mexico. We've played two regular season games a couple years back in London, and we're going to be playing another regular season game which we recently announced with the New York Knicks and the Pistons in January. I don't think we're going to be expanding that in a dramatic fashion. Though I do think our Europe Live concept will continue to roll our China games, friendlies. I like the name friendly better. I want to borrow that from our European friends, because it better describes what we do rather than exhibitions. We also feel certain push to play some games in South America given the coming world cup of football and the Olympics in Brazil. So I would say with a little expansion of the agenda in South America, we're going to keep pretty much the formats that we have here. Europe Live, China Games, Latin American Games, and an occasional regular season game hopefully in Europe. Q. Do you think that besides London, is there going to be any other regular season game in other arenas like Berlin or Paris? COMMISSIONER STERN: I think it's possible. It's really very much an economic decision because when a regular season game for us, in effect when we promote it as the league, is very expensive because we have to reimburse the team for the loss of the turnover at the gate, ask that's expensive. So there are only certain arenas and cities that can do it. Thus far Tokyo at its height could do it. We played in the Tokyo Dome and we did very well. Here, O2 with the 20,000 seats or so are good. I think O2 World might support such a game, but it's a different pricing structure than our European fans are used to, so we have to be careful there. I think we would look for the opportunity to have another game, not necessarily limit ourselves to London. But that is a discussion that we're just beginning now. Because this Europe Live Tour sort of didn't get to be talked about by us until January because of the lockout that we had last year. So this was a rush of some kind. Now we're starting to talk about next season before the regular season has begun. That's a luxury for us at this time. Q. Will there be any talk of having a team in Europe? I know you've mentioned that before, an NBA team. Also, would you try to foster and improve the relationship between the NBA and the Euroleague? COMMISSIONER STERN: I don't think that relationships between the NBA and the Euroleague could be any better than they are now. In fact, I'm happy to say that we have excellent relationships with the Euroleague, the local leagues, and the Federations and FIBA. And we're all joined because we win if more people play basketball, and we're all working towards that. I don't think having a single team in Europe is practical. I never have. What I've said, and it always gets me in trouble but it puts it off into the distance. What I've said is if we're going to have an NBA presence here in terms of the league, it should be five teams. I'm safe to say that there aren't enough buildings, there aren't adequate TV arrangements, we don't have owners, and I'm not sure we could charge the prices that would be necessary. I don't think our fans are that avid yet. But every year it gets better. Every year we have more fans. They tune into our games more. We now have an arena in London and one in Berlin that could probably house an NBA team. There is a planned renovation for Bercy in Paris that will be some years off. In one of my recent visits here there was a discussion about both an arena in Rome that construction ceased upon, and the possibility that there would be a new arena in Milan owe in connection with the world expo, but that's not happening either. So right now it's the same two buildings with the prospect of construction in France that will start in 2014. So realistically, there is no short‑term way that we could, I think, profitably consider that. So the mode for us is to work with the federations, work with FIBA, work with the leagues, and work with the Euroleague, which we're doing right now. Q. Considering they're playing hybrid rules in these games. How much would you like to see the FIBA style and the NBA style sort of come together more? COMMISSIONER STERN: I would but it's not going to happen, at least not on my watch and any watch that I could foresee. Our league is not crazy about the FIBA basket interference rule, which is no rule. Once it hits the rim, it's in play. I happen to like it. But our league is about evenly split on its utilization. I think it would be a really good rule for the referees because of all the calls we make, the one with the lowest correct percentage is whether or not the ball was within the cylinder. Ask FIBA doesn't have to worry about that. If it hit the rim, it's in play. I don't see any time soon our teams being comfortable with allowing the zone. Although even though 30 of them play the zone anyway, but I'm not looking, okay. I don't notice. But we still have a 2.9 defensive zone, and that's a call that makes us comfortable that we won't have three big men with their hands up. I've become convinced personally that our coaches and players are so talented that they'd coach their way and play their way around almost any rule. But those are the two differences. In a good way, FIBA has widened the lane, moving out the three‑point line, eliminated the non‑touching of the ball on a change of possession, gone to four periods. I don't see them going to 48 minutes, but our games are getting to be remarkably similar. I think that is the way it's going to be with yet a third game, the college game having its own set of rules. But I think our fans‑‑ it's not the scandal that it was 20 years ago. Why can't you have one set of rules? We have a great game, and we all play it and enjoy it. I remember our first negotiations with FIBA about how we would play it where we would‑‑ it was confusing to our players. We played some FIBA rules, some NBA rules. We negotiated a diplomatic solution to the three‑point line by putting it in between. It's not as stark now, and it's just about basketball. So I don't think much is going to happen in that regard. Q. I wanted to ask you how would you characterize how is the league impacted by the fact that the NBA teams are starting to lose to the European teams? Is it good or bad for the league? COMMISSIONER STERN: I have to be careful for my American audience how I answer that question. But in 1992, when the Dream Team went to Barcelona, our media said this is crazy our players are the best, they will always be the best, we're wasting our time. And I said, hey, if we play against FIBA, which invited us into the Olympics saying that we should come because it will make their players better, their players will get better. And our media scoffed and said it can't happen. Well, I was right. The quality of competition around the world has improved dramatically. And the natural result of a team like the Celtics playing its first game, and appropriately not playing its first team fully, if they don't play their best game, they're very likely to lose because all of the European players have players that are experienced in our game, they're well‑coached, and it's fun to watch. I must say in Alba Berlin, last night in Berlin, with the Alba Berlin team, I leaned over to the owner of the Alba Berlin team and said, if you win tonight, because the game was very close down to the end, it will not be because the Mavs didn't want to win. Because they had in Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Cayman and Sean Marion, and the starting back court, they were ready to go. It's because your team is very good. It was finally decided by Dirk hitting two important free throws in the last minute. And that's good for our game. It's terrific. So we're 1‑1. Last year‑‑ I'm getting used to it. Last year I was in Barcelona‑‑ the year before last they beat the Lakers. I've been all over in losses, mostly wins, but I was in Madrid when the Raptors lost to Madrid, and in 1988 I was in Moscow when the Atlanta Hawks lost to the Soviet National Team. So I'm experienced at losing. But it's not anymore fun than it was, but it's the reality of the game. There has been enormous improvement in the quality of the basketball around the world. In the London Olympics on 11 of the 12 teams, we had 59 current or former NBA players. That just speaks to the quality of the international competition. The quality being that international players make our game better by playing in the NBA, and then they return to play for the national teams. But increasingly, there are a number of players who we're seeing some of them in these games who our teams would like, but they're not coming unless they get paid and know exactly what they want to be paid, and they'd rather play in Europe. That's okay, because there are so many basketball players in the world. The level of the game is getting to be so much better. That it's a joy if your idea is to grow the game, and it is our idea. Q. Is there a possibility or intention of bringing back some kind of tournaments in Europe Live? COMMISSIONER STERN: I don't know the answer to that. We've tried everything. We've been to tournaments. We've brought in country champions, continental champions. We think that commercially what the fans want to see is the home team against the visiting NBA team. And our NBA teams have been very generous in deciding that they'd like to travel. So on this tour, entirely by the accident of the calendar on the tours that we have, we have New Orleans and Orlando in Mexico, we have the Clippers and Miami in China, and we have the Celtics here in Milano, and the Mavs in Barcelona and Berlin. So we're getting a representative sampling of our league from top to bottom. I think it's really better to have individual friendlies than it is to have a tournament. Because, honestly, it might change, but right now the fans want to see the visiting NBA team against the home team. The game between two other teams that don't involve either the home team or the NBA team don't do so well. That's just the fact of where we are right now. Q. You were talking about rules and how do they change. Can you tell your thoughts on the new, no‑flop rule? COMMISSIONER STERN: Well, in my view, flopping is designed to do, I would say three things. It's designed to cause the referee to call a foul when there wasn't a foul, and that's not a good thing. If the referee doesn't call the foul when there is a flop, it's designed to make the fans think that the referee made a mistake and is not a good referee. Generally it's designed to cause the game to be decided not on its merits as basketball, but on its merits as acting. Since I happen to think that basketball players are the greatest athletes in the world, I think they should play basketball rather than act. I think we will eventually find a way to remove flopping from our game. There have been some people that say that our rules don't go far enough, the fines should be bigger. There should be suspensions. To that, I say relax. It may take some time, but we'll do it. There are others who say it's impossible to do. We should have had the referees call it on the game. But if the referees are being fooled, how is it that they can call it? And we can't stop the game every time to watch it on video. We'll review it after the game, and we'll assess appropriate penalties. If those don't work to get it out of the game, we'll assess additional penalties. We'll find a way to do it. By the way, some people say that that's the European influence on our game, flopping, but it's not. It's Americans that are amongst the best floppers. It's not a European specialty at all, and it's not a Latin American specialty. It's a universal specialty. All continents are very good at flopping. Q. Could you discuss the possibility of advertising on an NBA team jersey? COMMISSIONER STERN: All I would say about advertising on team jerseys is it's something that's being discussed by the NBA Board of Governors. This is the one forum that understands that advertising on team jerseys is something that's gone on for decades, both in football and in basketball, and virtually every other sport. We shall see. There's a pretty big division of opinion right now as to whether we should take that step. As a personal matter, I am not in favor of it, but I'm not standing in the way of it. If my board wants to do it, we'll do it. Of all the leagues in the world, the NBA is the only one that has only its own logo on it. The NBA little logo man. No information of the manufacturer and no sponsor, and that is something that I have worked hard to preserve for many decades. But I understand that the team may have come to consider it. So we're going to let the board of governors decide what to do. Q. In ways like the MLS, would you like for European teams to travel to the United States and play preseason games against NBA teams or would you ever mandate every NBA team play one European team? COMMISSIONER STERN: Actually, as we speak, FC Barcelona and Siena are in the United States playing Memphis, Cleveland, Toronto and San Antonio, and ‑‑ oh, I'm sorry, I got it wrong. Real Madrid and Siena are playing in the United States playing those four teams, and that's not the first time. They've done it many times in the past. We've had other Spanish teams. We've had the Israeli team, Turkish teams, Russian teams, Greek teams. It's a very ecumenical sport. We think it's great. We think our fans get to know them. I didn't think that question would be asked, and we expect that will continue to happen.  It's very good for those teams themselves in terms of their own development of their basketball to have the opportunity to play here or in the United States against NBA teams. It's pretty interesting and good for our NBA teams to get the experience as well. The enthusiasm that the crowds in Europe bring to the game is a beauty to behold, even the Greeks. It's a special beauty. Except I don't like to do the translations because some of the words that they're singing are not that wonderful, but other than that, I think the enthusiasm and the singing and the waving of flags of the European teams is something that I have always gone home and said that's the best way to see a basketball game. Q. Regarding the Seattle new arena, is there a chance during the next five years when they'll finalize it? Will there be an expansion team, a new Seattle SuperSonics? COMMISSIONER STERN: Are you the gentleman from Romania? You want to know about the Seattle SuperSonics? Q. Yeah, because I grew up with Seattle. COMMISSIONER STERN: Oh, good. You see that is the universality of our game. The answer is there seem to be plans moving along for a new arena in Seattle. There was general agreement in the past that Seattle needed a new arena. It would be my hope that within the timeframe that you mentioned five years that if everything works out perfectly, there would be a new arena and a new team in Seattle. That's always, for the NBA board of governors, but I know that many governors are favorably inclined. With that, I want to thank you all for the hospitality, always, and wish both teams good luck in tonight's game. Thanks for coming. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|