A group of NBA stars led by Houston Rockets All-Star James Harden and Blazers star guard Damian Lillard were threatened by the league with suspension and fines after they took part in a basketball clinic early this week in Manila, Philippines.
The group was actually scheduled to participate in a five-on-five scrimmage against the Philippine national team bound for the 2014 World Cup of Basketball in Spain next month. But they decided not to push through with the game because league officials reportedly called them and threatened them with sanctions.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: "The NBA warned against violations that included "some kind of exhibition of basketball skills," including shooting games and dunk contests."
The warning was coursed through the NBA Players Association (NBPA). The NBPA, meanwhile, informed the players and agents that the league has taken a hard line stance against exhibition games because these are not approved under the current collective bargaining agreement.
However, the Yahoo! report also suggested that the league did not want the players to take part in the games because it wants to control the payouts to the players and sell its own sponsorships to the organizers.
Curiously, the players were said to have received around $150,000 plus stipends for the two-day event.
Eventually, the organizer of the event which is the largest telecommunications firm in the country decided to scrap the second day of the promotion. The company dealt with a huge public backlash from the basketball-crazed Southeast Asian nation.
The group also included rising stars Demar Derozan and Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler, Terrence Ross of the Raptors, and Brandon Jennings of the Detroit Pistons.
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