Amar’e Stoudemire Supports Kobe Bryant’s Barnstorming Tour, May Join Bryant in China

It's the 1920s again and Babe Ruth is playing in such bustling metropolises as Dayton, Ohio, and Bridgeton, N.J.

OK, not quite. But locked out NBA players are talking about spending the time off afforded by the labor strife on overseas barnstorming trips.

New York Knicks forward/center Amar'e Stoudemire seconded Kobe Bryant's proposal for a Chinese tour, saying he'd join the Lakers guard in the Far East, the New York Daily News reports. In the spirit of the good ol' days, when athletes, underpaid relative to today's standards, would supplement their income with offseason visits to smaller cities, the NBA stars want to showcase themselves to the world's second-biggest economy.

Commissioner David Stern floated the concept before, but now that it's not his idea, he'll probably say it's bad for the game.