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LONDON (AP) — The NBA is still planning to play a regular-season game in London before the 2012 Olympics are hosted by the British capital, although commissioner David Stern said Tuesday that no schedule has been set.
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Stern has said that he wants to play a meaningful game at London's O2 Arena, where the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz played a preseason game Tuesday. "We hope to do it," Stern said, noting that 2010 and 2011 would be the last chances. "We're running out of runway." The NBA was playing in London for the third straight year, and the game at the O2 was again sold out. Although this year's trip to Europe was cut down from previous visits, the Jazz still have one more game to play on Thursday against Real Madrid in the Spanish capital. Outside Europe, however, the NBA is playing preseason games in other countries, including Taiwan and Mexico. Stern also spoke about the global economic downturn and the talks with the referees union. The NBA has locked out the regular referees because of a contract dispute. "As far as I know, there have been no further conversations with the union," Stern said. "They know how to reach us." Last year, Stern said there would be cutbacks at the NBA because of the financial crisis, but this year he said his organization had been hiring overseas employees. "We've been hiring. Stealth hiring, so don't tell anybody," said Stern, who would only say the NBA has hired more than 10 and less than 50 new people in the last year. Stern also said that the NBA would lose money this year, but that was because teams have been lowering ticket prices to accommodate fans who are also suffering from the bad economy. "Revenues will be down somewhere between 2.5 and 5%," said Stern, who then noted that the NBA was doing a good job of weathering the crisis. "We feel pretty good about our place at this difficult time." The 2012 Olympics has long been seen as a way to spread the word of basketball in London and beyond, but Stern also said that he would likely follow up the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with expansion on that continent. "Kids around the world are watching our game," Stern said. "They watch the great players and they say, 'I want to be like them.' " Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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