Sport
NBA Stars: James, Wade, Bosh, Anthony and pals to tour for charity
Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony are going home, and bringing friends with them.
With no end to the National Basketball Association (NBA) lockout in sight, the All-Star group is set to lead a four-game “Homecoming Tour,” starting with a matchup in James’ hometown of Akron, Ohio on December 1, followed by a December 4 game in New Orleans, a December 7 game in Chicago and culminating with a December 10 contest in East Rutherford, N.J.
James, Paul, Wade and Anthony are committed to play in all four games of the tour, which was announced early Monday. Proceeds from the tour, which will include events such as food drives, educational outreach programs and clinics in each city, will benefit the four headlining players’ charitable foundations, and tour sponsor Google Plus will stream each game live.
“It’ll be very neat,” Wade told The Associated Press. “First of all, this is something we talked about doing a long time ago as players. To have an opportunity to go to these different cities that we’re from, to bring basketball to them at a high level and also have a charitable component in each city and to be with the guys, it’ll be cool. It’s something we’re looking forward to.”
Tickets for the first three games go on sale Tuesday. Tickets for the East Rutherford game will be on sale Wednesday.
The rosters for the four games will likely change considerably in each city. James will play a significant role in organizing the Akron game, as will Paul in New Orleans, Wade in Chicago and Anthony at East Rutherford.
Chris Bosh, who, along with James and Wade, makes up the so-called Big 3 with the Miami Heat, is expected to play in all four games. Bosh, along with James, Wade, the New Orleans guard Paul, the New York Knicks’ forward Anthony, Heat forward Udonis Haslem and others have been part of a rigorous training camp in Oregon for players represented by Creative Artists Agency since late last week.
“I’m sore,” Wade said from Oregon. “But that’s why we set it up this way. We want to get into work mode. When we get into the tour, we want to play. We want to be equipped to do that. We don’t want to just run up and down the court and jack up shots. We want to get into the things we need to do when it comes to strength, defense, all those things you usually do in training camp. So we’re getting into that mindset.”
There’s been no shortage of exhibitions featuring NBA players during the lockout, which is now in its 21st week and already has led to the cancellation of more than 300 games, roughly one-quarter of a full season. Talks broke off last week after players declined an offer that the NBA said would have raised salaries considerably, which apparently wasn’t enough to convince player reps that it was the right deal.
