David Stern admits heated exchange with Dwyane Wade in labour meeting – NBA Update
NBA Commissioner David Stern has admitted to his bust-up with Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade during a NBA lockout meeting. The incident took place in the Friday, 30th September meeting, where a large contingent of NBA owners
and players were also present.
The incident took place when Stern, allegedly, waved his finger at Wade while making a point in a heated debate. Wade took offence to the situation and responded by shouting at the commissioner. The meeting was reportedly broken
up at that point, allowing both sides to cool off. Stern is also believed to have talked to Billy Hunter, the Executive Director of the NBPA, immediately after the incident to clear any misunderstanding.
On Saturday, when pressed by reporters to make a comment on the incident, Stern admitted that the smoke wasn’t without a fire. He did though play the whole thing down, saying that both he and Wade were there to argue what they
believed in, and it was only normal that a few words were said with so much at stake.
"I would guess that neither of us remember, but there was a heated exchange of some kind," Stern told reporters at a New York hotel. "I feel passionately about the system that we have and what it has delivered and what it should
continue to deliver for the players and the owners. And he feels passionately too.”
"And I think that if anyone should step up on that, it's my job on behalf of the owners to make the points that need to be made." He added.
Stern participated in the Saturday session too, which lasted for around 7 hours. Progress over any matter though was not made, even after the sides focused on very specific topics.
Dwyane meanwhile did not come back to the negotiating table on Saturday. He along with LeBron James went to play in a charity game organized by Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets.
The game turned out to be a jazzy event, with a number of the premier NBA stars turning up and delivering thrilling performances. The most notable of them all was that of the Oklahoma City Thunder forward, Kevin Durant, who scored
a whopping 48 points. Chris Paul also had 39.
Dwyane and LeBron ended up on the losing side of a 175 – 146 score line, but the event was a major success. Wade will now be gearing up for another charity game he has setup alongside his Miami Heat teammates.
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