NBA World Tour: All-Star Games Lose Luster with Superstar Dropouts

What’s the easiest way to kill the buzz of a new idea? Leave out the stars.  

Like U2 without Bono or Ghostbusters without Bill Murray, you need the big name to help sell the product. That’s why the NBA World Tour, set to kick off on Sunday in Puerto Rico, is going to fail miserably.  

ESPN’s Chris Broussard is reporting that LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul have all decided to skip the tour with “previous obligations." So will reigning MVP Derrick Rose.  

And the crowd goes silent.  

An ambitious trip that also includes trips to London, Macau and Melbourne was supposed to give international fans a glimpse at the top talent in the NBA. With most of the proceeds going to charity, it was a great idea hatched by Atlanta businessman Calvin Darden. Yet now that three of the larger-than-life stars of the league have dropped out, it makes you wonder if the attendance will be as high as it could have been.  

Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard are all still participating, so it’s not like elite players won’t be there. Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, Paul Pierce, Steve Nash and Kevin Love are all potential candidates as well.  

But how many players aside from LeBron and Carmelo does the average fan overseas know? I’ll give you Kobe, D-Wade and maybe Howard…but that’s about it. No offense to Love, but being an excellent rebounder on the worst team in the NBA won’t exactly make fans travel hundreds of miles to go watch.  

It’s just the latest poor attempt for the players to get under the skin of the owners. All of their contract agreements with teams overseas are not serious; it’s all just for the media to over-analyze to death. As are the glorified scrimmages being conducted in dark gyms across the country.  

As the NBA lockout reaches month No. 5, the players are running out of ways to stay in the headlines. An overseas tour without three of the biggest names in the game isn’t going to do a whole lot to change that.  

Chalk up the world tour as reason No. 1,332,495 why the lockout needs to end.