There are so many reasons David Stern needs to resign as NBA commissioner you hardly know where to begin.
The ridiculous anti-bling campaign against his league's players.
Stern's own thuggish behavior in trying to extort the taxpayers of Seattle to give the Sonics a new arena. Then fronting for the OK City ownership group's transparent attempts to run the franchise into the ground in order to get to Oklahoma as soon as possible.
The league's collusion with the NCAA and the NBA Player's Association to keep star high school players from going directly to the pros by imposing an age limit (19) that has no rational justification.
Awarding BET founder Robert Johnson the Charlotte Bobcats franchise over a group headed by Larry Bird which might have at least attempted to put a competitive product on the court.
Declining standards of play throughout his tenure while the cost to attend NBA games has gone through the roof.
Stern's determined stonewalling in the face of referee Tim Donaghy's assertions that more referees than just himself were involved in gambling, and that referees tilt games based on how well they get along with certain players and coaches. Keep in mind this was only a season after the league finally had to suspend ref Joey Crawford for his baiting of Tim Duncan and ten years after Stern allowed eight officials accused of income tax evasion to continue calling games.
The league's relative silence on hearing Charles Barkley owed a Las Vegas casino $400,000 in unpaid gambling debts.
Stern's own decision to allow Vegas to stage the NBA all-star game, and to at least entertain the idea of putting an NBA team in gambling's capital city.
Add this. Stern has been a poor steward of the integrity of the game and, in fact, has permitted a trade that not only had no justification but also hand delivered a star player to a team favored by the league because of its impact on TV ratings.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittendon, and two first round draft choices from Memp[his to LA for Pau Gasol. A trade made, admittedly by the Memphis GM, after accepting offers from no other team in the league.
A trade which took the most marketable asset and best player from a team struggling to fill seats and landed him in LA to provide Kobe Bryant the sidekick needed to get out of the early rounds of the playoffs.
A trade of which Jeannie Buss, daughter of the Lakers owner and a member of the team front office said “What I'm most proud about that trade is the fact that it never leaked out. I have a feeling that there would have been teams in the league that
would have upped their offer to get Gasol or they would have locked the
Memphis GM in a closet to keep him from making that deal.''
In other words, Memphis might have gotten a better deal. Which raises the question, why did Memphis not do what any casual fan would have had the business acumen to do?
Maybe the answer is the Grizzlies are losing around $16 million a year and are trying to dump salary to be more attractive to a potential buyer, a buyer who might want to move the team from Memphis and would need approval of the league to relocate. Enter David Stern. Exit Pau Gasol.
When Donaghy, not exactly the picture of integrity, raises issues about a level playing field in the league it is easy to dismiss his accusations as self serving. But, when you look at the totality of Stern's record as commissioner it's not hard to believe the NBA is part pure competition and part put up job.
If the Lakers win the NBA title and David Stern hands the trophy to Jerry Buss, remember this. It isn't the first time this year Stern has tried to do exactly that. And the Lakers wouldn't even be playing the Spurs if not for David Stern.
The Donaghy affair might be an isolated incident, but at this distance it doesn't feel that way. The NBA needs a full, complete, and open investigation of it's officials. And the probe has to be lead by someone of integrity. Someone who can safe guard the integrity of the game. That can't be done with the man who oversaw the Pau Gasol heist as commissioner.
Stern and all of professional sports are under great pressure to show improvement in the areas of black top management and ownership and you're very intelligent. You have to have known this.
I totally disagree on the rest. Memphis ownership had made no secret of their wanting to dump salary, had given up on the team and the city. Why didn't anyone else go inquiring as the Lakers did? Nobody did according to the stories. The Lakers are supposed to take out full page ads in every city saying "We offered XYZ for Gasol, if you want to up the offer come running!" That's sour grapes thinking.
And yes you are right the Lakers wouldn't be playing the Spurs without Gasol. But then again they would if Bynum hadn't of been hurt. So it's just more sour grapes thinking here and you're too good of a writer to be going there.
I don't support the 19 year old rule. i support a 21 year old rule and many do. Your boy OJ Mayo wouldn't be able to steal and lie and would have to learn to be a MAN before going to the NBA and the game and the fans would be better off for it.
anti bling is a good rule. Thug apparel is not appropriate for Professional sports and is far too destructive to society in terms of impressionable young boys to allow it. Stern is right here.
Barkley is none of Stern's business.
Last edited by NiqueDodson on May 23rd at 11:21 PM.
you forgot this little tidbit involving the gasol to lakers trade.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop /0-30-10/Aaron-McKie-is-Not-the-Onl y-NBA-Coach-Who-Could-Get-Traded.ht ml
Aaron McKie is Not the Only NBA Coach Who Could Get Traded
February 4, 2008 4:03 PM
This time last week, Aaron McKie was an unpaid assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers (although he is still making money from his last contract as a player).
Then McKie was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Memphis Grizzlies.
What?
Even better, now he's going to get a chance to be that rarest of things, a player/assistant coach. And for his troubles, he'll reportedly make an additional $750,000 or so.
In October 2007, McKie rejoined the 76ers as an assistant coach. [1]
On February 1, 2008, Mckie along with Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton,rights to Marc Gasol, and 2008 and 2010 first round draft picks was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol.[2][3]. The Lakers' acquisition of Pau Gasol was only approved by the league office when Aaron McKie -- who was working as a volunteer assistant coach with Philadelphia when the Lakers called to inform him that they had to sign him and throw him in for salary-cap reasons -- agreed to join the Grizzlies.
He was released from the Grizzlies on May 9, 2008.
TheSizzel-I never did like salary caps. They bring out the sort of nuttiness you describe with McKie. Memphis is just dumping salary and getting ready for a going out of business sale. Moving Gasol to LA was a way to help the process along.
NiqueDodson-Let's say the Minnesota Twins decided to unload Joe Mauer. The only team they discuss the deal with is the New York Yankees, and the players they get are at best marginal prospects. Wouldn't the rest of the league have a reason to be upset? The Gasol trade smells the same way.
Dudski, you said in this post what I've been thinking for a long time. Thank you.
I think Stern is a big reason I'm not even watching the NBA Playoffs this year. Everything about the NBA seems fishy. Things seem to work out a little too well for the big-market teams and it's all become so predictable. I used to be passionate about the NBA, but until someone I trust is overseeing things I just don't want to support it anymore.
Dudski, you make a lot of very valid points. Obviously, there is more than enough justification to force David Stern from his post; however, since the leauge is not hemmoraging money a la MLS and the TV ratings are acceptable (provided we don't get a Pistons/Spurs rematch) the NBA owners see no need to make a move to unseat him. Sadly, money has trumped "the integrity of the game".
The only spot where I might disagree with you is the NBA's 19 year-oldlings rule. Part of the reason that the level of play has plummeted (and the ticket prices have skyrocketed) is because of NBA owners paying exorbitant amounts of money to teenagers who are rich in talent but poor in maturity and common sense, and who are being "handled" by entourages who just want to ride the human cash cow. For every one Kobe or KG who have thrived going from preps to pros, we have legions like Darius Miles, Shaun Livingston, and Kwame Brown...who was mentored by no less than Michael Jordan and is about six months from being washed out of the NBA. These players shouldn't be drafted until they're at least after their junior year, and even then I wouldn't touch them unless they were like MJ or Carmelo Anthony and led their school to a National title.
One more thing...I don't spend a lot of time surfing through the blogosphere...man am I lucky I stumbled upon somebody like you.
Ok let's say that Texas trades Alex Rodriquez to the Yankess for WHO?
Let's say Boston sells Babe Ruth outright for 150,000.00.
It's not like it hasn't been done. Teams strapped for cash. Do you really think that if someone had gone to the Grizzlies with a better offer that they wouldn't have taken it? Remember this is an owner desperate to sell his team and managed to run it financially into the ground since the city was overjoyed to have them when they moved there.
All I can find to read about it says the Lakers were the only ones to even ask. You have to ask to get.
Nique-You make good points, but teams talk to each other about players all the time. If the Grizzlies were hard up for cash and wanted to rebuild isn't it odd that they only had one conversation and the one conversation lead to a one-sided trade. There are only two ways to look at it. Either the Grizzlies GM is incompetent or the league put the fix in for moving Gasol to the Lakers.
DVX Prime-Thanks for the kind words. I don't disagree with you about the young guys affecting the quality of play. But why make a rule that essentially is designed to protect NBA GMs from their own bad judgement. I'll give you this, though. If there has to be a rule at all, it ought to be 21.
Ian-The myth is that Stern is making the NBA successful. I think he's just there at a time when the league is doing well. More specifically, we're seeing basketball compete with soccer worldwide as the sport of choice for young people. You could name me NBA commissioner and the league will still be successful.
