Stern has no problem with teams miking players

Talking ahead of the New York Knicks' game in London against Detroit on Thursday, Stern shrugged off a report that MSG chairman James Dolan used listening devices at Madison Square Garden to record everything said to and by Carmelo Anthony.

With the league and media already recording most things that are said during games, Stern said that adding more microphones can only be a good thing.

"Anything that is said on the court is really subject to being picked up," Stern said. "For my money, I'd like to see the audio track of our games be a little bit more robust, anyway. ... If anything, there are going to be more mikes around the game rather than fewer."

The Newark Star-Ledger reported Monday that Dolan had two MSG Network audio technicians record Anthony's interactions following his suspension after exchanging words with Boston forward Kevin Garnett. Stern pointed out that the Knicks have not confirmed the report, but that no league rules were broken in any case.

"And we encourage all of our teams to mike the court as best they can," Stern said. "If a team does something to eavesdrop on other players, they would be sanctioned because it would be against our rules. But there's a difference between eavesdropping — such as putting a microphone in the locker room or the huddle other than the one that the league does — and putting a microphone around the court to pick up the sounds of the game."