NBA commissioner David Stern will attend Game 3 on Friday night, but is not scheduled to speak with reporters, two league sources told this newspaper. Stern often holds a pregame news conference during the playoffs with Lakers beat reporters.

There are a number of issues open for discussion, particularly Stern’s decision to block the Lakers’ multi-player and multi-team trade that would have netted them point guard Chris Paul back in December. Stern has never fully explained his reasons.

Stern did have a prolonged discussion about the vetoed Paul trade with veteran NBA reporter Chris Sheridan during a news conference during the All-Star Weekend, but answered few of Sheridan’s questions substantively.

Stern also has made headlines recently for suggesting he would like to see the league shorten the regular season to 66 games from the current 82. He said he liked the idea of beginning the season on Christmas Day.

In addition, he said he would consider adopting the goaltending rules used in international play, in which a player can handle the ball immediately after it hits the rim, which is currently outlawed in the NBA rulebook.