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None of the NBA's 30 owners expressed any objections Friday to holding the 2007 All-Star Game in Las Vegas.
"It was not a contentious issue at all," said commissioner David Stern, who estimated the owners spent less than 10 minutes discussing the subject during the two days of meetings at a Manhattan hotel.
Much more time was spent discussing the status of negotiations with the players' union on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expires June 30. The sides are expected to convene again next week after union director Billy Hunter meets with a large group of players to update them on the status of talks.
"I'd say we're closer to 50 percent (finished) than 80 percent," Stern said. "We've done a good job of defining a broad array of issues that need to be addressed, but we have not determined whether the final trades can be made.
"If the deal doesn't get done, it'll be because the sides weren't able to fashion a compromise," Stern said. "We have no agreement on anything until we have a deal on everything."
The Board of Governors, with one representative from each of the league's 30 ownership groups, also was briefed on the statistical state of the game and officiating issues, was updated on plans to expand the NBDL and was introduced to new WNBA commissioner Donna Orender.
Deputy commissioner Russ Granik briefed the owners on labor talks, which have been taking place regularly in New York since late February.
Among the key items the sides are bargaining over are the maximum length of player contracts, the maximum annual raises allowed in those contracts, and the future of the escrow and luxury taxes designed to dissuade spending on player salaries.
"I surely hoped we'd have it done by now, or have it much closer than we currently are," Stern said, declining to discuss specifics.
One of the biggest issues in labor talks is the so-called age limit, with the league favoring a change in current rules that allow American players to declare for the draft after their high school class graduates. (International players must turn 18 before the draft). Recent years have seen a heavy influx of 17- and 18-year olds entering the draft, and Stern would like the minimum age raised to 19 or 20.
"We would very much like to get our scouts and general managers out of high school gyms," Stern said.
NBA officials traveled to Las Vegas last week to tour proposed sites for the league's showcase event, which will be held in Houston next season.
The league is now awaiting a formal proposal from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and an announcement on the host city for 2007 should come before the end of the NBA Finals in mid-June.
"It was well received," Stern said of the Las Vegas idea. "There was a general acceptance that this was a good idea.
"What's happening increasingly with our All-Star game is that because of its size and the stress we put on hotel stock, transportation, convention space, even movement, it may get to a place where a smaller number of cities can deal with it," Stern said. "So that has left us open to the proposition that we would consider non-NBA cities."
Source: AP
"It was not a contentious issue at all," said commissioner David Stern, who estimated the owners spent less than 10 minutes discussing the subject during the two days of meetings at a Manhattan hotel.
Much more time was spent discussing the status of negotiations with the players' union on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expires June 30. The sides are expected to convene again next week after union director Billy Hunter meets with a large group of players to update them on the status of talks.
"I'd say we're closer to 50 percent (finished) than 80 percent," Stern said. "We've done a good job of defining a broad array of issues that need to be addressed, but we have not determined whether the final trades can be made.
"If the deal doesn't get done, it'll be because the sides weren't able to fashion a compromise," Stern said. "We have no agreement on anything until we have a deal on everything."
The Board of Governors, with one representative from each of the league's 30 ownership groups, also was briefed on the statistical state of the game and officiating issues, was updated on plans to expand the NBDL and was introduced to new WNBA commissioner Donna Orender.
Deputy commissioner Russ Granik briefed the owners on labor talks, which have been taking place regularly in New York since late February.
Among the key items the sides are bargaining over are the maximum length of player contracts, the maximum annual raises allowed in those contracts, and the future of the escrow and luxury taxes designed to dissuade spending on player salaries.
"I surely hoped we'd have it done by now, or have it much closer than we currently are," Stern said, declining to discuss specifics.
One of the biggest issues in labor talks is the so-called age limit, with the league favoring a change in current rules that allow American players to declare for the draft after their high school class graduates. (International players must turn 18 before the draft). Recent years have seen a heavy influx of 17- and 18-year olds entering the draft, and Stern would like the minimum age raised to 19 or 20.
"We would very much like to get our scouts and general managers out of high school gyms," Stern said.
NBA officials traveled to Las Vegas last week to tour proposed sites for the league's showcase event, which will be held in Houston next season.
The league is now awaiting a formal proposal from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and an announcement on the host city for 2007 should come before the end of the NBA Finals in mid-June.
"It was well received," Stern said of the Las Vegas idea. "There was a general acceptance that this was a good idea.
"What's happening increasingly with our All-Star game is that because of its size and the stress we put on hotel stock, transportation, convention space, even movement, it may get to a place where a smaller number of cities can deal with it," Stern said. "So that has left us open to the proposition that we would consider non-NBA cities."
Source: AP