Reader question:

In this paragraph from an NBA story about Kobe Bryant, who could have been traded from Los Angeles to Detroit, according to some – The Pistons and Lakers have not had any discussions about Kobe since the summer. Joe Dumars, doing his due diligence, made a call about Kobe when he learned he would be on the market. He was told Kobe didn't want to come to Detroit -- end of discussion. There hasn't been another discussion – what's due diligence?

My comments:

First of all, "due diligence" is not a basketball term, but a general business term meaning what your job requires you to do – to do background check and research generally in order to see if some business opportunity is really worth further pursuing.

Due diligence – diligence due to one's job, diligence being the honest hard work.

Joe Dumars, a Detroit Pistons star guard back in the 1980s, is now President of the team responsible for trades and in fact all personnel matters. When he heard that Kobe Bryant was on the market, he duly made inquiries as to how, if at all possible, Kobe might be brought to Motown.

As it turned out, Kobe was not interested and that was that. It happened in summertime. Now, rumors are re-surfacing saying that Dumars and the Lakers management were close to a deal. That's not true, according to the Pistons. Dumars made a call, and that was all. And the reason he made that call was merely what they call due diligence – in other words, he was just doing what his job required him to do. Or, as another scribe (Chris McCosky, Media must stick with facts, Detroit News, November 17, 2007) puts it, "any president or general manager that didn't do at least that should be fired." After all, the Kobester is the star of all stars. He might not be the ideal teammate in the eyes of many, but he is the best in so far as sheer individual talent.

Alright, my own due diligence done on this matter.

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.