Mike Tokito of The Oregonian notes on Twitter that the NBA and the Portland Trail Blazers set conditions for the paper before disputing recent reports of Blazers owner Paul Allen's behavior in labor negotiations and mindset regarding his future ownership of the team... ------------------------------- Note: NBA/Blazers insisted Silver interview be w/biz guy not one of the Blazers beat guys. Said they'd go to other publication if not. ------------------------------- Obviously this is not standard operating procedure. The paper's story was eventually written by Allan Brettman, a business reporter, rather than Jason Quick, Joe Freeman, Mike Tokito or John Canzano, the four writers who most often cover the team. On Friday night, NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver asserted that Allen did not deliver a message to the players union that led to a breakdown in labor negotiations on Thursday while Blazers president Larry Miller disputed a report that Allen could be positioning the team for sale. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter