Philadelphia

- Rumors have circulated that Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary's LeBron James, considered the best high school player in the country, will declare himself eligible for the 2002 NBA Draft in June.

A player jumping from high school to the NBA has become common place in recent years, but James would break new ground because he's only a junior.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, however, said he hasn't received any indication that James would try to make the jump. He also said the league doesn't have any concerns of James challenging the rule.

"Our current collective bargaining agreement provides that the player in a high-school class has to have graduated, and that's the rule we have and that's the rule we will have until the collective bargaining agreement is replaced by something else," Stern said. "Our lawyers tell us that [if James challenged the agreement] it wouldn't be successful."

Malone stays home:

Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone remained in Salt Lake City yesterday, missing the All-Star Game because of his mother's illness, team officials said.

Shirley Turner was admitted to a Salt Lake City hospital with an undisclosed ailment.

Malone was not replaced on the Western Conference roster.

Free's world:

Former Cavs guard World B. Free is now involved in community relations with the Philadelphia 76ers. Free, who had 23 points in one quarter against Detroit in 1985, said if it was up to him, his Cavs No. 21 would be retired.

"Cleveland was a town that was needing something when I got there from Golden State," Free said. "When I first got to the city, people said I'd play in front of 1,500 fans. I thought that was OK, because I knew by the time that I left, games would be sold out. I came in with a positive attitude and it worked."

Rule changes:

The new NBA rules that include zone defenses have done what the league has wanted by increasing scoring. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said he hasn't noticed any significant differences in games.

"We pretty much just do the same thing," Bryant said. "It helps us on defense. Minnesota benefited the most because of their big lineup, and that will help them when they zone teams up. The new rules don't really matter because you have the best basketball players in the world and they should be able to adapt to any situation."

Extra security:

As expected, the security measures during All-Star weekend were heightened. No one could enter the team hotel without proper credentials or a room key. Media and employees of the First Union Center had bag checks and went through a metal detector before entering the arena.