Stern Pays Visit to Memphis

NBA Commissioner David Stern described his trip to Memphis, Tenn., on Tuesday as a very positive one as a move there by the Vancouver Grizzlies is considered.

He said a relocation depended, however, on the city’s ability to build a new arena, expected to cost $250 million.

Financing for the arena is not yet settled and will require votes by the City Council, Shelby County Commission and state Legislature.

Stern said an NBA relocation committee should have enough information in about two weeks to make a recommendation to the league’s board of governors.

Arena financing is expected to come primarily from public money, but NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said that would not amount to the taxpayers financing a private business.

“The issue isn’t about helping out anybody who happens to be an NBA owner. The question is whether Memphis is anxious to have an NBA franchise,” Granik said. “That’s something for the people of Memphis to decide.”

There’s bad blood simmering between Milwaukee and Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference finals, and Buck Coach George Karl thinks that’s a good thing.

“We’ve played four times, we shouldn’t like each other right now,” Karl said Tuesday, the day before Game 5 in Philadelphia. “I don’t like them and they shouldn’t like us. And it’s probably going to get worse.”

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, Karl said.

“It’s just the nature of a competitive series,” he said. “I personally think it’s a pretty professional series.”

The series is tied, 2-2.

The man charged with sexually assaulting the sister of New York Knick forward Marcus Camby during a hostage standoff pleaded not guilty in Hartford, Conn.

Troy Crooms, 28, was presented in Hartford Superior Court and entered a pro forma plea to charges including first-degree sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary, unlawful restraint and possession of a weapon.

Crooms is accused of holding Camby’s sister at knifepoint during an eight-hour standoff at the home of Camby’s mother in South Windsor on April 23.