Chatting with the commish

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.\nThat saying is so true, and it is one that will be exemplified this weekend when the NBA rolls into town for the All-Star weekend festivities.\nWith this year's All-Star weekend being in Las Vegas, I had some questions to ask NBA Commissioner David Stern. I decided to conduct a phone interview with him.\nHere is a written transcription of my interview with Stern (note to my gullible readers: This is a fake interview and did not actually happen).\nMe: Commissioner Stern, thank you for your time.\nStern: The pleasure is all mine.\nMe: Let's jump right in. Why did you decide to move the All-Star weekend to Las Vegas instead of locating the events in the hometown of an NBA team? \nStern: The league is trying to expand the NBA community to other cities around the United States to gain more fans and this is a big first step. Las Vegas is a magnificent city that has been very welcoming throughout this whole process. We feel the city and the NBA will both benefit from these events. \nMe: With the current reputation of the NBA, do potential legal troubles from the weekend worry you?\nStern: Not at all. I am completely confident that the entire NBA community will behave in the utmost professional, respectful manner and show the city the same respect these individuals show their hometowns.\nMe: But they don't even show their hometowns respect sometimes.\nStern: That is not true. These players do wonderful things for the community and the few bad news stories should not change people's perspective of these caring players. \nMe: (long pause) OK ... moving on. Some people seem to think this weekend is a test to see if an NBA team could potentially relocate in Las Vegas. Is there any truth to that matter?\nStern: That is a completely baseless rumor. The NBA is not exploring the option of moving a team to Las Vegas at this point in time.\nMe: So the Maloof brothers have not presented the idea of moving the Sacramento Kings to Las Vegas, given their ownership of the Palms?\nStern: They have not brought the idea to my attention. The Maloofs are great owners that care very much for their organization and they have a great city right now in Sacramento. The city embraces and supports a team that has a bright future. I do not see the Kings moving away from Sacramento right now.\nMe: Will the players be using the new or old ball this weekend?\nStern: The old one, of course.\nMe: Why did you put the new ball into play in the first place? \nStern: Spalding and I decided on what we thought was the best synthetic ball to replace the old one. We felt it needed to be changed since high school and college both use that material. The players did not adapt to the change and we decided to go back to the leather ball until players and league officials can come to an agreement on a new synthetic ball.\nMe: So basically you made the wrong decision.\nStern: I wouldn't call it a wrong decision. It was more of a failed experiment that was easily corrected but is by no means over.\nMe: You were wrong, but I'd like to thank you for honestly answering all my questions. I appreciate your time and the dedicated work you put into trying to revive the image of the NBA, despite doing it in a questionable manner.\nStern: Thank you, and you are a great journalist.