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.

For the good of the game, Stern must go.