You know that big planned international tour of players going all over the globe? The World All-Star Classic? The legs may have just come out from under it.
LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul all have pulled out of it at the last minute, tweets ESPN’s Chris Broussard. This was on top of Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook having pulled out previously.
Darren Rovell of CNBC tweeted this on the same topic:
There are still other big names attached to the tour, including Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Kevin Garnett, but it’s going to be hard to keep sponsors involved after some of the biggest names have pulled out. (UPDATE: Durant’s people now say he is 50/50.)
You get the feeling the Jenga tower that was this tour is about to collapse.
Tickets — starting at $50 and going up to more than $450 — had already been on sale for the first game of the tour, Sunday in Puerto Rico. Those ticket sales have been suspended. The tour is then scheduled to move on to London, Macau and Melbourne, Australia.
All these stars pulling out on the same day there is rumors of progress on the NBA labor front could lead one to be optimistic about the NBA getting its act together. Maybe, although reports suggest the two are not related. It is not only completely possible but likely this tour would simply collapse under its own weight.
