Stern: Heat's Big Three didn't break NBA rules

LAS VEGAS - David Stern said three of the NBA's top players did not break any rules in hatching the plan to join forces with the Miami Heat, but he did feel LeBron James and his inner circle were out of line when it comes to his manner of announcing his decision.

"The advice he received on this was poor," Stern said in a condemnation of James' closest confidants, such as business partner Maverick Carter. Stern added that the broadcast of "The Decision," a one-hour special on ESPN last Thursday, "was ill-conceived, badly produced and poorly executed."

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who released an angry letter in reaction to James' decision to leave Cleveland that called the two-time MVP "narcissistic" and railed at him for "cowardly behavior," got a much harsher reprimand. The Cavs were fined $100,000 for Gilbert's remarks.

But Stern did defend Gilbert against the words of Rev. Jesse Jackson, who on Sunday released a statement that accused the Cavs' owner of viewing James as a "runaway slave."

Stern said Jackson "is mistaken" and added, "I would have told him so had he called me before he issued his statement."

The NBA has rules regarding tampering that prevent team officials from talking publicly about or negotiating privately with players under contract with other teams. But there are no rules that can control players from talking and, perhaps, planning to team up. Stern said there will be no investigation into collusion between the players because there are no rules to stop them from talking.

"What we told the owners was that the three players are totally . . . within their rights to talk to each other," Stern said. "That is not tampering or collusion that is prohibited. However, it may be technical. That's our rule right now, our practice."

The NBA Board of Governors met here Monday and, although the LeBron fallout was a strong topic of interest, the group mainly discussed collective bargaining and the plans to begin negotiations with the players' union. Stern expects to meet with the union later this summer to start the process. The current CBA is set to expire after this coming season, and Stern sounds as if he is ready to push a hard cap or place tougher restrictions on going over a soft cap. Currently, the league operates with a soft cap and a luxury tax in which $1 is charged for every dollar over the threshold.

Despite the surprising rise in the salary cap to $58.044 million (a year ago, Stern forecast that it could drop as low as $50 million), Stern contends that the league still is losing money.

If building superteams in major markets becomes a trend - Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony already have been linked to potentially joining Amar'e Stoudemire with the Knicks - it could impact parity and hurt small-market teams. That will be in the discussions during the collective-bargaining process.

But it seems clear we won't see anything like LeBron's televised announcement again anytime soon.

"Players . . . are totally in their rights to seek employment with any team," Stern said. The issue the commissioner had was that James kept five of those six teams - the Cavs, Knicks, Nets, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers - waiting.

"Had he asked my advice in advance," Stern added, "I might have suggested he advise Cleveland at an earlier time . . . that he was leaving. I would have advised him not to embark on what has become known as 'The Decision.' "