Roundup

Shooting Stars added to NBA All-Star Weekend lineup

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The Shooting Stars competition, which will include some of the league's legends, has been added to NBA All-Star Saturday Night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the NBA announced Wednesday.

The Shooting Stars is a competition featuring four teams of an NBA player, WNBA player and NBA legend in a timed one-round shooting event. The names of the participants has not been released.

All-Star Saturday Night also includes the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Shootout and Rising Stars Slam Dunk competitions.

The Skills Challenge features four NBA players running through a timed obstacle course that will include dribbling, passing and shooting stations. New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd won the inaugural event in 2003.

The Three-Point Shootout consists of six of the NBA's top shooters in a two-round competition. Sacramento Kings sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic has won the last two events.

The Slam Dunk competition showcases four of the league's most athletic players with less than four years NBA experience. Golden State Warriors guard Jason Richardson successfully defended his title last year and is eligible again.

Also included on All-Star Weekend is the Rookie Challenge, which pits the top first-year players against the league's second-year players on Friday night.

The All-Star Game is Sunday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. EST.

NBA pulls sweatshirts imported from Myanmar

NEW YORK (AP) -- The NBA removed sweatshirts imported from Myanmar from its store in Manhattan after a labor rights group accused the league of violating a federal law against selling goods made in the country.

The sweatshirts bearing the "I Love This Game" slogan, selling for $60, were removed from the NBA Store on Tuesday after a protest was lodged by the National Labor Committee, an anti-sweatshop organization funded in part by labor unions.

The group's director, Charles Kernaghan, said he was shocked to see the merchandise from Myanmar, formerly called Burma.

"That's just flat-out wrong," Kernaghan said. "Burma is one of the most vicious dictatorships in the world."

President Bush signed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act in July, banning imports from the country, which has a poor human rights record, including the jailing of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently under house arrest.

NBA licensees must sign a code of conduct that requires factories "meet NBA standards regarding working conditions," league spokesman Matt Bourne said.

"This is an isolated incident and we're continuing to examine the situation so that it doesn't happen again," Bourne said. "We're examining all the details to make the necessary adjustments,"

Kernaghan said workers in Myanmar are paid as little as 7 cents an hour, and they risk imprisonment if they question factory conditions.

Knicks put Sweetney back on IL, sign Sundov

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Less than two weeks after being activated, seldom-used rookie Mike Sweetney is back on the shelf.

The New York Knicks on Wednesday placed their first-round pick on the injured list and signed Croatian center Bruno Sundov to a 10-day contract.

Sweetney was activated Jan. 10 after missing five games with tendinitis in his left knee. Although he was not part of the Knicks' rotation upon his return, Sweetney continues to be bothered by the injury.

The ninth overall pick in the draft, Sweetney is averaging 1.5 points and 4.9 minutes in 13 games.

Sundov was waived Thursday by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 7-2 Sundov averaged 2.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 7.3 minutes in four games before being cut.

Prior to this season, Sundov averaged 1.8 points and 1.1 rebounds in 76 career games with Dallas, Indiana and Boston.

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