SECAUCUS, N.J. — LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have to get to the NBA Finals for the playoffs to be a success, commissioner David Stern said Tuesday.
Speaking hours before the NBA draft lottery, Stern downplayed the idea that having James in the Finals would be a windfall for the league.
“You mean as opposed to Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony or Kobe Bryant,” a smiling Stern said. “None. We have nothing but stars.
“We should be called NBS instead of NBA, and I don’t do justice to the squads because in Sunday’s Game 7s, the two players who got the most ink were Mr. (Hedo) Turkoglu and Mr. (Pau) Gasol, so the international element of the NBA makes us stronger and is beginning to catch the attention of the press.”
James and the Cavaliers will face Howard and the Magic in the Eastern Conference finals beginning tonight, while Bryant and the Lakers opened the Western Conference finals against Anthony and the Nuggets on Tuesday night.
When asked about James as a player, Stern joked that he knew nothing about the game and was just at the lottery to watch.
“He is pretty good,” Stern finally relented. “Whatever his expectations were, he has exceeded them.”
The commissioner then quipped that James is not as muscular as Howard.
“And Kobe is Kobe, and Carmelo has had a year of development that is extraordinary, and we’re not even doing justice to the rosters of each of these teams,” Stern said.
The commissioner was amused by wrestling promoter Vince McMahon’s complaints that Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke was to blame for the Pepsi Center being double booked for Monday night. The World Wrestling Entertainment was to have matches there, but the building isn’t available because the Nuggets are scheduled to play Game 4 against the Lakers there.
“He is the premier showman and he demonstrates it again and again as he has here,” Stern said of McMahon, who he called a friend. “(He gets) lots of good ink and pub.”
Stern implied the Nuggets are going to have to pay money to McMahon because of the double booking, but he said they could avoid it by letting the Lakers host Game 4. He doesn’t think that will happen.
