"It has been 21 years since South Florida hosted an NBA All-Star Game.

Because of the NBA lockout, that drought soon could change.

While the real thing is not on the horizon in the league's long-range planning, a source close to LeBron James confirmed Tuesday to the Sun Sentinel that James and Miami Heat teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have plans to team up to present a lockout pro-am all-star exhibition at 7 p.m. Oct. 8 at Florida International University.

James has spent much of the offseason barnstorming with a series of locked-out NBA stars, participating in exhibitions in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Baltimore and, most recently, this past Sunday in Philadelphia. He also is scheduled to appear with Wade at an Oct. 1 exhibition in Winston-Salem, N.C., that is being presented by New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul.

Wade and Bosh, by contrast, have spent the offseason and lockout largely pursuing off-court interests.

That apparently will change, with formal announcement of the exhibition at FIU's 5,000-seat U.S. Century Bank Arena expected to be made Wednesday. A message left with Florida International University Athletic Director Pete Garcia by the Sun Sentinel was not immediately returned.

The timing of the game will put it in direct conflict with the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, an observation that does not end until sundown."