"I think there is something going on with Cuban and Wang, but I'm not sure." "Do you think there will be a problem with Yao and China Govt." "No, not at all." paraphrase: "But if that is what they want, no biggie to us. If they want him to play in Europe...Sabonis had a great career there. No biggie." GO STERN...shrug off the importance of Ming here.
HeyP, I just listened to a replay of Stern's interview. Too bad they didn't go into more detail about today's response from the Sharks GM and the games they're playing. But you're right about Stern calling their bluff. Hopefully he will continue to diplomatically back the Rockets in their attempts to negotiate Yao Ming's availability throughout the season. His attitude was basically that the NBA will thrive with or without Yao. And while we'd love to have him in the NBA,it's up to them to conform to the needs/requirements of the NBA. He was very optimistic that it would get worked out citing examples where the NBA has helped them develop the game over there. He didn't use these words but my way of summarizing his view is, "look,we want him here but truthfully it's more beneficial TO YOU if he plays in the NBA than it is to us,so you decide". For once I was glad to hear that infamous Stern arrogance and smugness. We've been playing their game politely and with respect. If they don't respond soon in good faith,then hopefully Stern will bring the hammer down and set a drop dead date for his coming or not----the whole season or not!
If China wants to play negotiation games, we can let Stern play the bad cop, and Rudy/CD the good cop.
