The, uh…Turkish Airline has landed another huge sponsorship deal, this time as the title sponsor for the Europe’s biggest basketball league, the Euroleague,

The first-ever title sponsorship deal for the Euroleague will run for the next five seasons, with an option to extend it for a further five. Turkish Airlines was one of the league’s main partners for this year’s Final Four in Paris, France.

Under the agreement, the company will also name the Euroleague Final Four and become a global sponsor of the Eurocup, the second-tier pan-European club basketball competition. (via SportBusiness)

For those who may have forgotten, Turkish Airlines also recently signed a deal to become the official airline of the Manchester United soccer club.

The airline carried more than 25 million passengers in 2009, pulling in more than $4 billion in revenue.

Did I forget to mention that the owners wanted to make all of those changes retroactive?

Here we are now, well into the NBA’s free agency period and summer league games, and I’d like to say that things are looking up, but we’ve heard very little on the labor negotiation front, other than David Stern’s mention that the NBA lost approximately $370M last season.  A statement that NBAPA head Billy Hunter vehemently disagrees with,

Union director Billy Hunter made that statement in a telephone interview with ESPN.com, saying the commissioner’s assertion of the severity of the owners’ financial woes “just doesn’t hold water.”

“I’m preparing for a lockout right now and I haven’t seen anything to change that notion. Hopefully I’ll see something over the next several months,” Hunter said. “As of this moment, it’s full speed ahead for me in preparing the players for a worst-case scenario.”

Hunter, who also spoke Wednesday to several other news organizations, said the players do not believe the owners’ claim that they lost a combined $370 million last season — a statement Stern reiterated in public comments Monday following an owners meeting in Las Vegas.

“There might not be any losses at all. It depends on what accounting procedure is used,” Hunter said. “If you decide you don’t count interest and depreciation, you already lop off 250 of the 370 million dollars, and everything else was predicated upon what they were projecting, which was a decline in attendance that didn’t happen. Attendance was the second-highest ever.” (via ESPN)

Its not exactly the most optimistic of outlooks when two sides are at least $370 million dollars apart.

The owners of course, are arguing that the system is inherently flawed, in part because the system is revenue based.  The BRI, of which the players receive 57%, is based on things like team gate receipts and concession sales; owners costs aren’t really ever considered.  That sentiment is echoed by NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver,

“Part of the problem with the existing system is it’s based largely on revenue, not net revenue,” Silver said Monday. “Although our actual revenue numbers were better than what we projected, it came at a large cost. Our teams did a spectacular job in a down economy of increasing ticket sales, but that came at the cost of additional promotions, additional marketing, additional staff.”

The owners’ argument seems to have some validity on its face.  It was only a year ago when half of the teams needed to be bailed-out due to not being profitable, they’ve opened themselves up to new streams of revenue (via the courtside liquor ad), and as Silver mentioned, they increased spending on things like marketing and promotions in order to get fans in the seats.  All signs that costs were increasing, or at least that they’ve expected costs to increase…and why wouldn’t they? It was a recession.

Of course, what we’ve actually seen recently is an increase in the 2010-2011 salary cap (it was expected to decrease), great ratings for the finals, and the highest BRI in the history of the NBA.  So now, the question that begs to be asked is “How much of the owners’ decisions were a result of actual losses versus an attempt to mitigate expected losses (and have things turn out better than expected)?”

With the Union and the League on opposite sides of the spectrum, this is one of many questions that will have to be examined, and answered, before we’ll see basketball played in the 2011-2012 season.

Being right has never made me feel so miserable.

Congratulations ESPN, you got me.  Me and the other 4 or 5 million people (i’m guessing) that watched the 73 minute spectacle known as “The Decision”.  An event that should have taken 5 minutes, or that maybe should have been accomplished in 140 characters (ala Kevin Durant via Twitter), ended up consisting of a montage of Lebron regular season highlights, re-hashed discussion by ESPN roundtable Scott, Wilbon, Barry, and Broussard, photoshop, and various commercials from Bing, Vitamin Water and the like.

And that was the first 22 minutes.

Of course, that went completely in the face of what ESPN head Norby Williamson had promised us; a decision with the first 10-15 minutes followed by 45 minutes of analysis and interview.  Although after seeing what began in minute 22, I was kind of longing for the Lebron James NBA team photoshop montage I had seen a few minutes earlier.

Enter Jim Gray.

I’m not sure how many questions Jim Gray asked, in part because I was watching the television in disbelief.  I simply couldn’t understand not only why Lebron was getting questions reserved for a high school athlete (“Are you still a nail-biter?”), but why there were so many of them.  Wasn’t he here to discuss his decision regarding his free agency?  Wouldn’t Gray have been able to ask more pressing and poignant questions if we all knew Lebron’s answer first instead of a piling on to a build-up which had been created weeks if not years ago?

Apparently not.

But eventually, we did learn of Lebron’s decision;  The Miami Heat (side note: the most interesting part of the show had to be Wilbon’s interview with Wilbon and Lebron being able to see Cleveland fans burning James’ Cavaliers jersey).  Of  course, a large majority of those watching weren’t completely surprised, since ESPN’s Chris Broussard had been correctly citing “independent sources” for the past few days regarding James’ decision and the ESPN/James partnership (it always will be impressive that Broussard had to rely on independent sources to confirm a show on his own network).  Scooping your network before their “scoop revealing” show, in which you are part of a roundtable of speakers.

ESPN conflict of interest quagmire complete.

Sure, some scholarships were given out via the University of Phoenix, and the Boys and Girls clubs of America (in the cities that were vying for Lebron’s attentions, no less) will reportedly receive $2.5 M dollars from the event.  But at the end of the day, was it worth it?  Did anyone come off in a positive light?  Lebron — who still came off as narcissist, especially with his 3rd person references to himself, ESPN — who either planned or agreed to an hour long format full of drivel for a 35 second statement, while simultaneously preventing their own employees from doing their job (or leaving them in the dark), The Sponsors — who seemed out of place (scholarships aside…University of Phoenix? really? Where did they even find the money?) or just a financial backer for a markedly arrogant endeavor, or Jim Gray — who was finally able to ascertain the answer to the years long debate; whether or not Lebron still bites his nails?

No…they didn’t.

Like I said earlier. You got me ESPN. Fooled me once, shame on me.

It won’t happen again.

…because before today, regardless of what you may have been told, it wasn’t.

But now?  Everything is out the window.  Any statistics regarding television markets, Miami Heat attendance…anything.  The books will be re-written in the 2010-2011 season, and beyond.

Lets just take a quick look…

–Well, for starters, the Heat have already sold out all of their season tickets for the upcoming season.  Compare that to the 2009-10 season where they ranked 15th in attendance, averaging 17,730 fans a game, which put them at 90.5% capacity.  On a related side note, how timely is it that the Heat just unveiled their new online ticket system (which was actually down for most of today, but still),

Expecting an uptick in season ticket sales once this summer’s NBA free agents decide where they will be playing, the Heat has officially launched a new online season ticket sales system.

Called Heat SeatPick, the system — designed by the team’s information technology department — allows fans to check seat availability in real time and purchase tickets without needing to speak with a sales representative. The system also includes a 3-D seat viewer that shows views from the AmericanAirlines Arena stands.

“In recent years, consumers have become increasingly comfortable with the secure online purchase of big ticket items, so we designed Heat SeatPick with this trend in mind,” Heat President of Business Operations Eric Woolworth said in a statement. “Season tickets are a substantial investment often accompanied by questions about seat locations, sightlines and inventory, and we believe the platform directly and thoroughly addresses these concerns.” (via Sarah Talalay)

–Need more? Forbes ranked the Miami Heat 12th out of all NBA teams, with a team value of $364M.  After the Lebron decision? that number has increased to roughly $400M which would have the Heat ranked 9th as far as team valuations go, with the Cavs also dropping down to $370M.

–Miami also has the 12th largest radio market and 17th largest television market in the United States.  While certainly not the largest market it, along with a 5.5M person metro-population, is certainly sizeable.

–Furthermore, you can also expect Miami to challenge the Lakers for the “team jersey sales” title (Lebron & Wade were #2 and #5 respectively in jersey sales for 2010), and for Lebron’s new Miami Heat #6 to challenge Kobe Bryant for most popular NBA jersey.

–Lets not forget the obscene amount of national television coverage the Heat will now garner.  Lede in’s on Sports Center, numerous showings on TNT and ESPN; regardless of opponent.  Of course, its all with good reason; you’d be hard pressed to argue that the Eastern Conference Champion for the foreseeable future wouldn’t have to go through Miami…if it wasn’t Miami itself.

–If you’re looking at endorsement deals, or sponsors, again, Miami is in the argument.  If you’re dealing with individual sponsors are there two players on a team that have more endorsement deals and more endorsement money than Wade and James?  And corporate sponsors will find the Heat to be an attractive option as well, especially if the team is able to produce a championship or two.

Talented players, high attendance, a sizeable market, lucrative merchandising and branding, and a large amount of television coverage.

Sure, maybe basketball wasn’t invented in Miami, or even made popular in Miami, but five years from now, we might be looking at this day as the day that basketball was re-invented.

Miami.  The new basketball mecca.

Lebron and his marketing company LRMR have lured New Orleans PG Chris Paul away from Octagon and into the LRMR fold.

James and LRMR CEO Maverick Carter have been recruiting Paul for more than two years to join their fledgling marketing company, and the All-Star guard finally informed his agency at Octagon that he had decided to leave.

LRMR has yet to make a formal announcement that Paul will be joining them, and sources believed they might have been waiting to use James’ Thursday night free-agent announcement as a backdrop to release the story.

“He’s left Octagon,” Paul’s agent Jeff Austin told Yahoo! Sports.  ”We’re proud of the work we did with him over the past five years.  We wish him nothing but the best.” (via Yahoo! Sports)

Wow.  Octagon is an established player in the sports marketing world.  They had negotiated various deals for Paul before his departure, including Right Guard and Team Jordan.  LRMR on the other hand, has seemingly been run largely on Lebron James’ own money and hasn’t really had any major players enter their client stable, they don’t even have a client roster listed on their website, until Paul’s signing. (NOTE: LRMR did sign Wide Receiver Ted Ginn a few years ago, O.J. Mayo briefly, and have wooed #1 NBA draft pick John Wall, but there seemingly hasn’t been much else)  Yet apparently, LRMR has something that Chris Paul values.

So, what has LRMR done for Lebron since he left Goodwin Sports?

Here’s where the cliff presents itself: since leaving Goodwin in late 2005, LeBron has inked deals with … Microsoft (a short-lived, low-impact partnership most NBA fans never saw), State Farm insurance, Cub Cadet lawnmowers and McDonald’s, the last of which was reportedly in the works before James left Goodwin. LeBron also recently reupped his Nike deal, with CNBC’s Darren Rovell reporting that it was likely for less per annum than the original 2003 deal negotiated by Goodwin. (via Fanhouse)

I’ll await for more information before rendering a verdict on Chris Paul…and his marketing career.

One of the most anticipated decisions in the sports world – where NBA superstar free agent LeBron James will play next season and beyond – will be officially revealed on “The Decision,” to be presented live on ESPN and ESPN Radio Thursday, July 8, at 9 p.m. ET.

For those of you wondering, ESPN and Lebron have decided to sell sponsorship and ad space during what will presumably be a highly viewed press conference.  The program itself will be presented by the University of Phoenix and Bing, while various other James’ sponsors such as Vitaminwater, McDonalds, Nike, and Sprite will either sponsor or make contributions to/for the program.  A portion of these various proceeds will go to the Boys and Girls Club of America.

So, to recap… ESPN and Lebron James have teamed up to create an hour long press conference about James’ free agency plans to which they’ve sold sponsorship and taken contributions…a portion of which are donated to charity.

There are no winners in this situation.

Could James come off looking more narcissistic?  Who needs to hold an hour long press conference just to inform everyone where you’ll be playing basketball next season?  Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh had a joint 10 minute interview on SportsCenter.  In other sports, even when marquee players sign, its a quick interview, if not just a Q&A with an expert in that particular sport.

But the charity angle…that negates all of the “bad thoughts”, right?

Does Lebron’s checkbook not work?  Could Lebron not hold an event with some corporate sponsorship and probably make even more money than the proposed “Decision” will make for some worthwhile charity?

Most importantly, we have no clue about the percentage going to charity.  Without that number, there will always be people that think you’re donating $1.00…even if you’re not.  So, it would be almost impossible to convince some people that the gesture is as good-natured as it appears on its face.

The sponsors? They almost seem guilty by association.  Donating money to a cause which inevitably may not do much more than boost the ego of the self proclaimed “king of Akron”…Right or wrong, I can honestly say that I don’t feel all “lovey-dovey” towards Sprite and Nike, now that I know their a part of this event.  Again, if the event was anything more than an ego fest (i.e. about donating money to a charity) why not send the charity a check and not have the event?  It’s one of those situations where the event has a completely different connotation, depending on which one of the two facets came first.  Here, the charity is an after-thought, hence the ego fest.

And what of the network carrying the presser, ESPN?  The network that has been enamored with James ever since he was in high school, when they were showing his playoff games?  Well, to start, they’ve basically handcuffed every one of their NBA reporters.  Chris Broussard can’t give the Lebron scoop (assuming he discovers it) because he’d be scooping his own network.  Funny thing though…they hired him to find scoops.

It’s an amazingly counter-productive catch-22 ESPN has given to its NBA employees.  The point was succinctly stated last night:

The problem facing ESPN’s reporters? If they scoop the network, they’re in trouble. If they don’t get the scoop, they fail. — Don Van Natta

Catch-22 aside though, the fact that ESPN would even agree to take things to this level; is this to be the norm?  Press events for something that is a non-event (or a relatively short event)?  This whole situation, ratings bonanza or not, sounds so juvenile.  It’s like a self-esteem boost for the most confident person in the world (unnecessary).  It really is like the kids in high school, putting on the hat of the college they’ll be attending.

High School.  Yeah, that’s about right.

Headphones of course.

Not just any headphones though, Lebron is customizing his own headphones ala Dr. Dre’s “Beats by Dre”,

According to Monster Cable Products Inc. CEO, Noel Lee, Lebron James will be sporting his own custom headphones.  The player nicknamed “King James” will be launching his own headphone line with the same company that  brought you Beats by Dre in 2008, Heartbeats by Lady Gaga last year, and Diddy’s Diddybeats in May.

The San Francisco Bay-area company, who is known for expensive video and audio cables, is already in the works with the two-time back-to-back NBA MVP.   Lee says “sound quality really matters when you enjoy music.” He says athletes such as James need that kind of high-quality sound experience because “it’s their way of focusing energy” before games. (via SportsBiz.Biz)

Not a completely shocking story here.  If you remember, Lebron actually received a personalized pair of “Beats by Dre” headphones back in 2008 (shown above) and had also previously worn the headphones in an NBA promo commercial.

Apparently there’s no date as to when the headphones will be available (maybe they’re waiting for Lebron to pick a team so they can customize the colors?) but if I had to guess, I would assume that Lebron and Monster Cable Products would like to capitalize on the massive amounts of attention Lebron is, and will continue to receive during this summer…so, maybe before the start of the next NBA season?

Stay on the lookout for “Beats by Bron” at a store near you.

image via GearLive

In an effort to completely live up to his moniker,  Dwight Howard, DC Comics, and Adidas have teamed up to bring Superman to the consumers.  Who’s ready for a Superman/Dwight Howard collaboration hoodie?

Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) and DC Comics announced today that it is collaborating with Adidas, the official uniform and apparel provider for the NBA, to produce a Superman-inspired line of merchandise featuring the iconic DC Super Hero, Superman and NBA All-Star, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.

The upcoming Adidas line will consist of footwear and apparel, co-branded with the legendary DC Comics Hero, Superman, along with Howard, whose on-the-court persona has often been compared to the Man of Steel.  Items will include t-shirts, fleeces, jerseys and track jackets, as well as athletic footwear.  The products will be distributed globally at sporting goods stores, stadium shops, athletic apparel and footwear stores, specialty and department stores and will be available to consumers by Holiday 2010. (via Newsarama)

First thought? I wonder if the foundation of this deal had already been developed before Dwight left Goodwin Sporst Management or if this is the first deal under his new “family-oriented” management team?

In either case…look for Dwight Howard/Superman apparel in a store near you, in the not too distant future.

Reebok is hoping that you’ll once again begin to throw their name back into the hat.

John Wall, the presumed #1 pick of the 2010 has signed with Reebok, as confirmed via his Twitter page on Wednesday night.  It had already been rumored that Wall would be meeting with Reebok executives, but the supposed meeting wasn’t supposed to occur until later this week.  Of course, it was also expected that Wall would meet with Nike and Adidas as well, but the fact that Wall and Reebok were even meeting…that was something in and of itself.

Wall will be replacing veteran guard Allen Iverson (seriously.), as the face of Reebok’s basketball line.

Will the signing of Wall mark the resurgence of Reebok in the basketball shoe market?  Maybe, maybe not.  But, in 2010, when you’re best known for working with Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal, I seriously doubt things can get any worse.

Update: Wall’s deal is reportedly 5 years, 25 million, according to Yahoo! Sports

LeBron James. Dwight Howard. Kobe Bryant.  What do they all have in common?

They won’t be appearing as the cover athlete on 2KSports NBA 2k11 basketball game.

That honor apparently belongs to Michael Jordan.  Yes, that Michael Jordan.  Lets make some history, shall we?

…multiple sources have told ESPN that the company has gone in a completely different direction, signing basketball legend Michael Jordan as its new spokesman.

This will be the first time that a former player will appear on the front of the box for 2K, and with Jordan taking over majority ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats, it will also be the first time that a team owner will endorse the popular franchise.

In addition to acting as cover model for “NBA 2K11,” the speculation is that Jordan will also be digitized into a playable character. This means gamers will become the virtual MJ in hopes of reliving some of his trademark moments. (via ESPN)

Apparently, the brand that is Michael Jordan is still strong enough to push video game sales, at least according to 2K Sports.  So strong in fact, that not only did 2K Sports choose Jordan over the superstars of today, they also decided to add some other players from the Jordan era,

There’s more. I’ve even heard whispers that 2K has been in negotiations with several players (both teammates and opponents) from the Jordan era to appear in “2K11″ to help gamers and history buffs accurately recreate the heated competition between the classic Bulls and rivals like the Celtics, Knicks and Cavaliers. But since 2K needs to ink all former players to individual contracts, it’s still up in the air whom the company will be able to sign in time to appear in the game.

If I remember correctly, before it was all said and done, Michael Jordan wasn’t even appearing in the annual basketball games, because developers weren’t willing to shell out the cash for the license to use his image and likeness (ala Barry Bonds in baseball games).  Now, all of these years later, not only do we get MJ in a video game…but on a cover?

Will wonders never cease…

One of the hardest and most frustrating undertakings a sports fan faces is securing playoff tickets to those in-demand playoff games.

Fortunately, Phoenix Suns Forward Amar’e Stoudemire seems to have you covered.

No. seriously.

Amar’e has teamed up with Razorgator and AtCost to basically turn his Facebook page into a secondary ticket marketplace…Groupon Style.

Stoudemire’s group buying store employs a methodology that’s remarkably similar to the ideology that Groupon made popular. The store rewards Stoudemire fans with much cheaper playoff game ticket prices if enough people collectively purchase the tickets within an alloted time.

The price as of publishing is $302.81, but that price continues to drop as the offer is shared by Facebookers and purchased by more people. The price will continue to fall until the offer sells out or time runs out, with all ticket buyers only accountable to pay the final lowest price. Another bonus is that ticket buyers never have to leave Facebook during the process of the purchase transaction, and they can see how much their social media sharing activities will influence the ticket price. (via Mashable)

What makes this so interesting is that its potentially another source of revenue/branding opportunity/marketing opportunity for an athlete.  Amar’e Stoudemire, the brand, is driving ticket sales to Razorgator and AtCost…sales that may not have happened otherwise.  And its all utilizing that pesky “social media thingy” that all the cool kids are talking about.

Now that the Suns have won game 4, tying the series, it looks like Amar’e is going to have another chance to help some fans attend Suns playoff games.

Winning the NBA’s rookie of the year award will garner a decent amount of prestige in and of itself, but it looks like Sacramento Kings Guard Tyreke Evans is finding ways to make himself known off the court as well.  He recently inked a sponsorship deal with VSP Global, which is the parent company over VSP Vision Care, the largest non-profit vision benefits services company in the U.S., servicing nearly 1/6th of the United States.  Details via press release,

VSP Global, the industry leader in the delivery of eyecare and eyewear, announced an exclusive two-year global sponsorship agreement with 2009-2010 NBA Rookie of the Year, Tyreke Evans. VSP will be the exclusive eyecare and eyewear provider for Evans, and Evans will help VSP raise awareness about eye health and other eye-related issues.

“The key reason VSP has decided to partner with Tyreke is that he understands whether you’re on or off the basketball court, maintaining healthy vision plays an important part in your everyday life,” said Kate Renwick-Espinosa, Chief Marketing Officer, VSP Global. “We believe that working with Tyreke will enable VSP to reach new consumers who may not be as familiar with our message, our brands and our offering.”

“Basketball is a game that’s all about vision. VSP is dedicated to helping protect eyes and providing the best in eyecare and eyewear,” said Tyreke Evans. “I am proud to represent them on and off the court.”

Details of the deal were unavailable.

As far as sponsorship deals go, I must say that this one is pretty interesting.  You’re 20 years old, you’re coming off a ROY award, and we don’t see you coming out with the big shoe deal, or the big apparel deal…you’re a spokesman for eye health and eye-related issues.  I have to admit, it is kind of a refreshing change.  Not that there’s anything wrong with the big shoe deals and whatnot, but picking a 20 year old basketball player to endorse eye health…that’s certainly a bit outside the norm.

Tyreke Evans = eye health.  Read. Speak. Repeat.

We’re in Brooklyn, baby!

It’s official! Russian nickel magnate Mikhail Prokhorov is now officially the new owner of the New Jersey “soon to be Brooklyn” Nets.

“We are pleased that the NBA’s Board of Governors approved Mikhail Prokhorov’s purchase of majority ownership of the Nets,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement.

Under the agreement, Onexim, Prokhorov’s investment group, will invest $200 million and make certain contingent funding commitments to buy 45 percent of the arena project and 80 percent of the team. (via Reuters)

It was necessary that 23 of the NBA’s 30 team owners approved Prokhorov taking over the Nets, which didn’t seem to be a problem.  Not to say that the move was not without opposition though,

U.S. Congressman Bill Pascrell, who represents the eighth congressional district of New Jersey, is a vocal opponent of the sale to Prokhorov and has called for investigations into the Russian’s business dealings in Zimbabwe.

Pascrell even asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner earlier this year to investigate whether Prokhorov’s company is in violation of breaching sanctions imposed on the southern African country.

“I am disappointed in the NBA for holding this vote while questions still remain as to the extent of Mr. Prokhorov’s business ties to the brutal regime in Zimbabwe,” Pascrell said in a statement.

Congressman Pascrell’s concerns aside though, it looks like its full steam ahead for the Nets moving to Brooklyn, giving the New York area two basketball teams.

…that gives Lebron James two opportunities to play in New York for the 2010-2011 season! (just kidding…maybe.)

Well, this is almost sure to be ugly.

Yesterday it was revealed that minority Dallas Mavericks owner, Ross Perot Jr., was suing the Mavericks (and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban) alleging the club was insolvent.  The details,

In the 13-page petition filed in a state district court in Dallas, Hillwood Investment Properties III Ltd. asked that a judge place Dallas Basketball Ltd., the team’s business management, in receivership and order an independent audit of its operations. Hillwood also is seeking actual and punitive damages.

The petition alleges team management lost $50 million last fiscal year. Hillwood also alleges that the club has lost $273 million since Cuban’s Radical Mavericks Management LLC bought its majority stake in 2000 from Perot’s company, which retains a minority stake and partnership in Dallas Basketball Ltd.

The lawsuit also alleges the Mavericks company has an interest-bearing debt of more than $200 million, a $289 million deficit and negative working capital of $75 million. (via NBCDFW)

The suit goes on to allege that the Mavericks have relied heavily on borrowing money to meet financial obligations such that it has diminished the value of the Perot/Hillwood Investment Properties investment and put the long-term viability of the Mavericks in doubt. and that they’re unable to repay those long term debts.

For the sake of information, Forbes lists the Mavericks as the 7th most valuable team in the NBA, but does note that Cuban has spent nearly $400 million on payroll and $70 million in luxury tax over the last four years alone.  Furthermore, the Mavs have operated at a loss for 11 out of the last 12 years that Forbes has been tracking team finances. Makes me wonder if the Mavs received any money when the NBA received their “bailout money” a year ago.

As for Mavs owner Mark Cuban? The man who is always a magnet for quotes stated that not only is the team not in jeopardy, but that much of the money owed by the club is owed back to Cuban himself,

In a statement issued Monday night, Cuban said he had “either personally guaranteed or provided funding” to finance team operations. “So (Perot) is saying I can’t pay back the money to me.

“The real issue is that he wants me to run the team the way he did in the ’90s,” Cuban stated, referring to one of the team’s leanest periods on the court.

“The biggest mistake I have made with the Mavs was keeping him as a partner,” Cuban said of Perot. “The Mavs are just fine — except for the time and money we will have to waste dealing with Perot.”

This lawsuit, the Dirk Nowitzki free agency situation…should be an interesting summer in Dallas, no?

The Phoenix Suns will be wearing their “Los Suns” jerseys during Wednesday’s NBA playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Wednesday, amongst other things, is the Hispanic holiday, Cinco de Mayo.  Suns owner Robert Sarver made the decision to honor the diversity of the state of Arizona and also as a slight to what he believes to be an unfair immigration law recently passed in the state,

The decision to wear the jerseys on the Cinco de Mayo holiday stems from a law passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer that has drawn widespread criticism from Latino organizations and civil rights groups that say it could lead to racial profiling of Hispanics. President Barack Obama has called the law “misguided.”

In a statement, Sarver said the frustration with the federal government’s failure to deal with the illegal immigration issue led to the passage of what he called “a flawed state law.”

He said that the law calls into question “our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law” and will cause Arizona’s economy to suffer setbacks at a time when the state is already in economic distress. (via ESPN)

I will leave the politics out of the post, but I will say that it is a nice gesture by Sarver to show his appreciation for the Latino community, which undoubtedly will  increase the Suns fan base by at least a few fans after Wednesdays game.

P.S. yes…apparently the only Los Suns picture I can find is from 3 years ago.