•Hold the presses: There is not going to be a free-agent summit after all. CNBC's Darren Rovell spoke to agents for Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Amar'e Stoudemire, who put the kibosh on the most anticipated summit conference since Potsdam. Rovell reports that agent Henry Thomas, who represents Wade and Bosh, actually told that to Ira Winderman of the...
•Hold the presses: There is not going to be a free-agent summit after all.
CNBC's Darren Rovell spoke to agents for Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Amar'e Stoudemire, who put the kibosh on the most anticipated summit conference since Potsdam.
Rovell reports that agent Henry Thomas, who represents Wade and Bosh, actually told that to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last week, but other news outlets have been slow to pick it up.
"Dwyane never made reference to a summit," Thomas told Rovell on Tuesday. "He said that he'd have conversations with some of these guys, and that still will happen. But there's no summit of any kind planned where they'll all be in the same location. . . . The way it was first characterized and the way it continues to be characterized -- as if the only thing left to determine is a date and a location -- is not the reality."
Happy Walters, the agent for Stoudemire, told Rovell, "The idea that they're all in this together and they're going to say, "OK, you go here and I go there," that's not happening."
NBA spokesman Mike Bass told Rovell the league has a rule that prohibits players from tampering with other players but acknowledges there's no way to regulate that.
"We therefore reserve discipline only for the most egregious player tampering cases," Bass told Rovell.
•James talked to NBA TV's Ahmad Rashad in an interview earlier this postseason that will be shown on NBA TV today at 4:30 p.m. and will re-air at 6:30 p.m.
Is there any chance free-agent news could overshadow The NBA Finals?
NBA TV personnel say no.
"I think most of our shows will be LeBron-free," NBA TV host Matt Weiner said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. "Obviously, the news of the day will dictate whether there's a mention of LeBron or any of the other high-profile free agents. I can't see any scenario where news or a rumor or a consideration of a pending free agent would trump any game of The NBA Finals."
•Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has some advice for James.
"The only thing I would tell LeBron is take your time," Abdul-Jabbar said in an interview with AOL FanHouse's Chris Tomasson. "There's a lot to think about. I would just tell him to take his time.
"It's going to be a tough choice for him, because they certainly want him to stay in Ohio, and he'll be wooed now by other teams. He's got to figure out what makes sense personally and then professionally. There's two factors to it: where he's going to be comfortable, and where the team is going to factor [in terms of winning]. [Ohio is] home for him. You know he's got to be comfortable there. He's lived there his whole life, all of his professional career. It's really up to him. Maybe he wants to be in Orlando or Miami and forget about winter. Who knows?"
•OK, she sent an e-mail to the New York Post, but we're going to assume the same would hold true for Cleveland.
Lakers vice president Jeanie Buss, daughter of Lakers owner Jerry Buss and girlfriend of Lakers coach Phil Jackson, says she would not stand in Jackson's way if he desired to move east.
"I am hoping the Lakers win and everything stays status quo, but the one thing I do know is that I am not going to stand in Phil's way if he wants to go to another team," she wrote. "I don't control him -- if I did I would have a ring on my finger -- but I am not going to threaten to break up with him if he takes another job. Our relationship is solid no matter where he works. There are plenty examples of wives that don't move to the city their spouse is coaching. I hear [Celtics coach] Doc Rivers' family is still in Orlando. So that will not make a difference."
Jackson has left the door open to retiring, moving or staying, although the Lakers reportedly want him to take a pay cut of up to $7 million for next season.