Stern Concern

By Lawrence Lyman

Getting old isn’t fun for a lot of reasons. One reason is that you can’t function on little sleep. It’s a vicious cycle. You need your rest, but since you were out late, you don’t get it. Thankfully some scientists have proven that being tired causes your body to want to eat bad food. Thanks, scientists.

I went to a Rays game and had ‘beverages’. Sluggish and tired, on my way home, I decided to drive to McDonald’s when six minutes of radio confirmed what I have known to be true: David Stern needs to retire for the health of the NBA because he’s getting really, really tired.

Stern was being interviewed by Jim Rome. I like Jim Rome. I’ve been listening to his show for years. One of the reasons I like Rome is that he will confront his subjects. Sometimes this doesn’t work, i.e., Chris Evert/Jim Evert, but Rome remains the only major sports media figure to confront Stern about the awfulness of the WNBA. Most other sports media types bolster Stern’s ego-he’s so smart, I am so scared to interview a man with such a massive intelligence advantage that I will kiss his butt and toss softballs. I met David Stern once during the 1999 NBA Lockout. I happened to be in the NBA store and there was the commissioner, sporting his “lockout beard” roaming the store like Ron Burgundy after he was fired from Channel 5. Stern was rightly concerned that the league would fold due to all kinds of financial issues. Since I was younger and much more naïve, I was both star struck and said to Stern something along the lines of: Please Save the NBA.

Stern made labor peace and helped save the league from potential financial ruin. He has ruled over the sport for most of my life. There is no question that the NBA has flourished under his watch. He has presided over the Bird/Magic, Jordan, Shaq, Duncan, Lebron and Durant eras. The game is our best athletic export, too, with global stars like Dirk Nowitski and Yao Ming. Owners and players are both obscenely wealthy. I would argue that the lower level of an NBA arena is exhibit A of the income inequality gap in America.

But for all of the good that has come out of the Stern era, the NBA continues to be dogged by conspiracy theories. The integrity of the sport was exposed by former refreee Tim Donagy who confirmed what many fans have feared- the NBA’s officials try and control the outcomes to the benefit of the NBA. That was five years ago. Stern, legitimately staring into the abyss, vowed to examine his officials and change.

How did that work? It didn’t. Like the Masters, Kentucky Derby, Marvel Comic Book Movies, gripes about the NBA and its officials are a rite of spring. So is the annual conspiracy theory parade centering around the NBA Draft Lottery. The lottery, invented so that teams wouldn’t lose on purpose in order to draft superstar players, has been a source of controversy ever since the Knicks won in 1985 and drafted Patrick Ewing. Twenty-seven years later, the same conspiracy theory cries rang out after the New Orleans Hornets won and are pretty much guaranteed to take Kentucky Wildcat phenom, Anthony Davis. By the way, the Hornets are owned by the NBA.

Rome, in his way, asked Stern about the conspiracy and if the lottery was fixed. An indignant Stern fired back with the classic swarmy, “When did you stop beating your wife” line, a rhetorical response to what he thought was an absurd question. For the record, I do not think that the lottery is fixed since logically it would make no sense for Stern to commit a felony. However, many sports fans and NBA fans think that it is fixed. Perhaps Stern isn’t used to tough questions since his league’s main broadcast partner is ESPN. Obviously the right answer is to say no and explain why, but Stern made an ass of himself.

Brilliant move commissioner. Here is the NBA with a dream Finals match-up and because his ego wrote a check his body couldn’t cash, Stern made himself the story right in the middle of the Finals.

Stern’s only saving grace is the brilliance of his players. Last night’s Game 2 was fun! You had something not seen at the Finals in quite awhile: the fast break. You had the stars for both teams making big shots. Oklahoma City almost pulled off an amazing comeback and it looks like we may have a seven game series.

The problem with David Stern is that he confuses being tough with being smart. Being tough, from forcing a dress code on his players, expanding the league overseas, or the NBA’s web presence are all smart business decisions. Stern must have been picked on a lot as a kid because he acts so fake tough with his players and owners by arbitrarily fining them or talking down to the media.

While it may be true that even bad publicity is good for a sport, I remain baffled by Stern’s stubbornness to correct and change the narrative about the NBA. Rome’s question was a legitimate query because so many fans are thinking the same thing. That he won’t change by televising the entire lottery or address the inadequacy of his officials is why the NBA cannot grow. His fellow commissioner, the NFL’s Roger Goodell, may have his flaws, but there is no question that Goddell is always trying to improve the sport and “protect the shield” from any hint of impropriety.

It’s a shame because the future trends favor the NBA. The best athletes in the world are NBA players and with the awareness of the negative impacts of football at an all time high, basketball will continue to attract our best athletes. When a commissioner starts becoming the story, it’s time for a change.