Stern reserves place in heart for Jazz, Utah

The disparity between the haves and the have-nots in major league baseball has been a huge story for years. Last year, for instance, the New York Yankees had a combined player payroll of $208.3 million. By comparison, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays paid $29.7 million to players — a $178.6 million difference.

Not surprisingly, the higher paying baseball teams in the big markets have tended to rule the game.

The NBA, on the other hand, has a salary cap and a collective bargaining agreement that prevents such disparities.

Sure, the New York team overpays — the Knicks have the NBA's highest payroll of $123.6 million — but it certainly hasn't given them a competitive advantage, as their pathetic record indicates.

Instead, teams like the San Antonio Spurs — from the 37th largest metro market in the country, one spot below Salt Lake City — can become NBA champions.

"We've spent a lot of time over the years in collective bargaining trying to come up with an arrangement and structure where teams can compete regardless of their city size," NBA Commissioner David Stern said this week prior to his visit to Salt Lake City for Karl Malone's number-retirement festivities.

The ability for teams from all the different markets to compete is one of the reasons Stern is feeling good about the health of his league right now.

"We're in our third year of record attendance," the commissioner said. "There is always a softness in markets depending on the standings of their team, but overall — with respect to fan interest, player reputation and economic impact — things are going very, very well for the NBA, both domestically and around the rest of the world."

Two teams that have been struggling — both on the court and financially — are the Seattle SuperSonics and Portland Trail Blazers. Both franchises have threatened to move if improvements aren't made to their arenas or their arena deals. Stern believes those problems will be worked out and hopes the Sonics and Blazers will be able to return to their profitable, successful ways.

"There are always issues of concern — Seattle, Portland, New Orleans/Oklahoma City," said Stern. "Even Sacramento is having difficulties with respect to their building, but that's about par for the course. Overall, we feel very good about the direction the NBA is going."

Stern genuinely seems to have a soft spot in his heart for the Utah Jazz.