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New 76ers owners to be introduced Tuesday

At the end of last week, the NBA approved Comcast-Spectacor’s sale of the Sixers to a group of investors led by New York billionaire Joshua Harris; at that time, the news conference was tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.

Tuesday’s news conference will be the first time the new ownership group – which includes Harris, David Blitzer, Art Wrubel, and Jason Levien – will speak publicly about their $280 million purchase of the Sixers.

The news conference is scheduled to commence at 11:30 a.m.

— Reported by Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer

NBA approves sales of Philadelphia 76ers to Joshua Harris and partners

The NBA Board of Governors has approved Comcast-Spectacor’s sale of the 76ers to a group of investors led by New York billionaire Joshua Harris, an NBA source confirmed.

The sale is expected to officially close early next week; the new ownership group is expected to hold a news conference, possibly as early as Tuesday.

Terms of the sale were agreed upon in July: $280 million for 100 percent of the franchise. Completion of the sale has been pending league approval for more than two months while the league is mired in a labor dispute with the NBA Players Association.

— Reported by Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer

The sale of the 76ers to a group headed by Joshua Harris was approved yesterday by the NBA Board of Governors, according to an NBA source.

The organization is expected to hold a press conference in Philadelphia sometime next week to formally announce the sale.

Though the NBA is currently in the midst of a lockout, Harris will now be able to fill in fans as to what his plans are with the future of the team, at least somewhat. Because of the lockout, Harris will not be alowed to discuss players or team personnel issues.

One of the bigger questions surrounding the team is if current general manager Ed Stefanski will hold on to that job title. Stefanski has interviewed with the Toronto Raptors and is said to be a leading candidate for their GM position. Stefanski is held in very high regard by coach Doug Collins, who came in last season and improved the team from 27 wins to 44 in his initial season.

— Reported by Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News

Rajon Rondo staying busy this off-season

Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo made highlight reels with an acrobatic alley-oop pass to Denver rookie Kenneth Faried in a Kentucky all-star game last week, after making his first organized basketball appearance last weekend at the South Florida All-Star Classic. In that one, he was promptly booed by the Heat faithful at Florida International University in Miami.

“I had a fun time at the game, a lot of guys playing together,’’ he said. “It’s good competition. That’s what you look for in this type of time of the year.

“The elbow is fine. I have been playing in a lot of games and it hasn’t given me any problems yet.’’

Rondo has worked out feverishly at the University of Kentucky, and though he is not in true basketball shape because of a lack of a training camp, he is prepared for more extensive workouts when the lockout concludes.

— Reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe

Stephon Marbury about to begin new season playing basketball in China

China’s most beloved New Yorker, Stephon Marbury, arrived for his third season in the Chinese Basketball Association at Beijing Capital Airport on October 6th with a bunch of bags, a lot of smiles and two big band-aids on his head. (And as always, a lot of people with cameras taking his photos.) After playing one and a half seasons Taiyuan, Shanxi province, and Foshan, Guangdong, two Chinese cities not exactly known as foreign hotspots, Marbury has finally made it to his Chinese professional basketball mecca, Beijing.

This season, Steph will play for the Beijing Shougang Ducks. Last season, led by former New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks center, Randolph Morris, the Ducks finished in eighth place, which gave them the right to be swept out of the first round of the playoffs by eventual league runners-up, Xinjiang Guanghui. Aiming to build off that success, the Ducks brought back Morris for another year and signed Marbury, who interestingly enough was close to signing with the team last year before team management ultimately decided to go with Steve Francis instead. (We don’t need to remind you how that ended up.) Although the team will be weakened with the departure of Jordanian national teammer, Zaid Abbas, who moved on to Fujian SBS this season to act as their Asian import, teaming up with Morris and Taiwanese national team point guard/CBA heartthrob, Lee Hsueh-lin, will give Marbury by far his best chance to make it to the post-season for the first time in his Chinese career.

— Reported by NIUBBall.com

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Dwyane Wade says NBA owners have been great at publicly complaining

Wade said the NBA has done an “amazing” job in getting its message out to basketball fans during the lockout. Players, he said, have not wanted to take the same approach as the NBA on the battle of perception.

“We haven’t done a great job of complaining,” Wade said. “That’s what the NBA has done, they’ve done a great job of complaining. We haven’t done a great job of that so no one sees our side. They more so see the owners’ side.”

And that side is this: Without more competitive balance, the league can’t succeed.

“There’s a real willingness of the high-grossing teams to pitch in and put in some dollars,” Stern told NBA TV in an interview broadcast Thursday night. “And there’s a real desire on the low-grossing teams to have the money to make them competitive.”

Wade and Stern discussed that point during a sometimes contentious meeting several top players attended in New York a couple weeks ago, and just as he did then, the star doesn’t agree with the commissioner.

— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press

Billy Hunter thinks an extended lockout could result in forced NBA contraction

Billy Hunter said earlier Friday that he fears much worse than canceled games if the lockout drags on.

“If everybody begins to dig into their respective positions, then I think the league will be decimated. It took us five years to recover from the 1998 lockout and there’s probability that we may never recover [from this lockout],” Hunter told ESPN before Friday’s sit-down with players. “I think there will be some teams that won’t survive. Particularly if the season gets shut down, there will be teams that will not be around next year.”

Hunter singled out the Sacramento Kings as a franchise that may fall victim to “forced contraction.”

If negotiations with the federal mediator next week fail to warrant any movement toward a deal, the players association hopes it has an ace up its sleeve as it awaits the National Labor Relations Board’s action on the unfair labor practices claim that the union filed back in May.

“It has been prolonged and I believe it has been prolonged because I believe they have taken this case serious,” union vice president Maurice Evans told ESPNLosAngeles.com. “The ruling could weigh heavily on these negotiations as it is the only legal verdict that could in fact end the lockout. We do expect to hear from them within the next two weeks.”

— Reported by J.A. Adande and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com

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Kenny Smith organizing November charity basketball game in Las Vegas

Kenny Smith has a way to end the NBA’s lockout, but he’s also realistic enough to know his plan might be too simplistic for league and union bureaucrats that seem to enjoy the battle more than trying to end it.

That’s why the TNT anaylst is planning a charity all-star game – perhaps the most appropriate such event in terms of who it will benefit.

Smith said Thursday night he is in the process of organizing a charity game in Las Vegas and wants it to benefit military members.

It will be played on Veteran’s Day, Friday Nov. 11.

That’s the day before Manny Pacquiao is scheduled for a welterweight title fight in Las Vegas against Juan Manuel Marquez, which could make it a huge sports weekend in Sin City.

The beneficiaries will be former military members, which is fitting because the game will be played on Veterans Day.

Many details must be worked out, but Smith said he has already been in touch with numerous players and the response has been excellent. And having the event benefit veterans would make it an instant success with sponsors.

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

NBA players union says it remains united

Put three people in a room and two of them will talk about the other. Put 30 NBA players in a room and unanimity is impossible.

So though Wizards center JaVale McGee said some NBA players “are ready to fold,” both he and players union president Derek Fisher stressed more players are staying together in their labor fight with the owners, which is scheduled to go before a federal mediator in New York on Tuesday.

With Commissioner David Stern continuing to make the rounds on TV and radio shows to teach and preach the gospel of the league and the owners, about 30 players met with National Basketball Players Association executive director Billy Hunter at a Beverly Hills hotel yesterday for updates on the latest labor proposals and to re-affirm their solidarity. The union has held similar regional meetings in Las Vegas and Chicago. But after McGee left early, he provided the headline fodder.

— Reported by Fred Kerber of the New York Post

NBA decides to allow scouts to attend college practices during lockout

After initially forbidding front-office executives from attending college basketball practices during the lockout, the NBA has changed course and informed teams they can now do so, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

With college practices starting this weekend, NBA executives and scouts are free to travel to campus and watch practices and workouts. Front-office executives and scouts were always going to be allowed to scout games, which don’t start until mid November.

— Reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports

InsideHoops.com editor says: Smart and logical move by the NBA. There is no reason to harm NBA teams by limiting their ability to study up on talent that they might someday want to draft.

LeBron James takes his talents to Liverpool

LeBron James took his talents to Liverpool on Friday—and finally got his hands on a championship trophy.

The Miami Heat star toured the Premier League club’s facilities for the first time since becoming a shareholder of the 18-time English champions. James held up the Champions League trophy won by Liverpool in 2005 and posted a picture on Twitter of a red No. 6 jersey with his name on it.

The two-time MVP will sit in the directors’ box at Anfield Stadium for Saturday’s Premier League match against Liverpool rival Manchester United.

“Jersey ready for the big match 2morrow,” James tweeted.

— Reported by the Associated Press