NBA stars set to align for global tour

Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Dwyane Wade will headline a roster of 18 NBA stars for a six-game, two-week, four-continent tour.The tour is slated to begin Sunday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with stops in London, China and Australia, according to media reports.However, the star-studded tour was dealt a blow on Wednesday when LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul bailed out of the World All-Star Classic, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com.The Florida Sun-Sentinel earlier reported that James, "not only won't be part of the tour but never committed to the project in the first place."Already reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook both decided not to make the trip overseas.Meanwhile, Paul, a member of the players' union executive committee, wanted to be available for any labour talks between officials for the owners and players.After more than 15 hours at the bargaining table, negotiations ended early Thursday morning and the two sides were set to resume talks later in the day at a New York City hotel.Progress has been made in hammering out a new collective bargaining agreement, with hopes of ending the nearly five-month-old lockout and salvaging the already abbreviated 2011-12 season.The first 100 games from November 1-14 have been cancelled and 102 more that are scheduled for the rest of the month remain in jeopardy of also being wiped out.The remainder of the roster includes: Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, Amar'e Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, Carlos Boozer, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Chris Kaman, Chris Bosh Tyson Chandler.After the opener in San Juan, the tour moves to London for games on November 1 and 3. Game 4 will be played on November 6 in Macau, China before finishing with a pair of contests in Melbourne, Australia on November 8 and 9.Each player will receive a salary, ranging from six figures to 1 million dollars, with many of the proceeds going to charity.