David Stern has been commissioner of the NBA now for almost 30 years. During his tenure, I have learned to despise his leadership. Despite the public image he has as the person who saved the league and brought it to all time heights in the 1980’s and 1990’s, I think he is power and money hungry. He does not care about the players. He does not care about competitive balance. He definitely does not care about the fans. He wants money, power and respect and will do just about anything to achieve all of the above.
Of course the thing that bothers me most as a small market sports fan is competitive balance of which the NBA has absolutely none. Since Mr. Stern has taken office, there have been a mere eight teams in the NBA that have won a championship.
Eight!
Out of 30.
And of course those eight do not include Sacramento, Utah and New Orleans. No. Those eight include Chicago, the second biggest city in the U.S.; Los Angeles, the third largest city in the country; Houston, San Antonio and Dallas which all place in the top ten. And then there is Boston, Detroit and Miami which are all in the top half of the thirty NBA teams in city size. That means that the bottom half of the league in market size has zero championships since David Stern took charge.
Zero!
Can you imagine what the odds of that are? I wish I could have placed all I owned on that bet 30 years ago. Of course I was eight years old, so that would not have been much. But my goodness. Now, I am not convinced necessarily that David Stern is rigging draft lotteries and has all NBA referees throwing games, but he has definitely stacked the deck against the small market teams. And he has made no effort to help these teams.
Why? Simple. Money.
That is why I am extremely excited that the NBA has gone into lock out mode. Initially, I was hoping that they would not only miss this season but 2012-13 as well. But the more I thought about it, that’s not what I’m hoping for. I’m hoping that this competitive balance problem can be fixed. Can the fifteen owners of these teams step up to the plate and stand up to Mr. Stern and do something about this please? The only other shot we have is that Stern steps down from the position. And he won’t do that until he is exposed as the terrible commissioner that he has been the past 30 years.
Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
Friday, July 15, 2011
Monday, May 31, 2010
Celtics v. Lakers...There's A Shock
The NBA Finals are set. It’s the Boston Celtics vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. Is anyone really surprised? Now I realize, the Celtics didn’t have a great season. They looked old at times. They were the four seed and were supposed to be a decisive notch below Cleveland and Orlando in the East. So maybe there is a little surprise there.
But this is the NBA. Big markets find a way to get there. Whether it’s crooked referees, rigged ping pong ball drawings, or shady trades and player acquisitions, the NBA has found a way to always have at least one big market in the Finals almost every year during David Stern’s reign as commissioner.
I know that most people looked at me as a wacko when it comes to this stuff. Their arguments include 1) how can an entire league be rigged?. 2) if it was rigged, why have the New York Knicks stunk for so long?, 3) money is made when series go seven games, not when big markets make it (which is a complete joke) or 4) how do you explain the San Antonio Spurs? Okay, that last one is difficult, although San Antonio is a huge television market. It ranks in the top ten even though from a population standpoint, it is not.
All of the rest of these arguments hold no water. Looking at these other three points in reverse order: 3) Of course the league makes more money in riveting 7-game series, but they also make a ton of money when big markets are in the mix. Compare any 7-game series with L.A. with a 7-game series without L.A. and the first one makes more. In fact, I would be willing to bet that a 5-game series with L.A. and let’s say someone like Dallas gets better ratings than a highly contested and exciting 7-game series between Utah and Portland.
2) Why have the New York Knicks stunk for so long? Two reasons. First of all, even David Stern can’t fix organizations that have made so many bad decisions. And second of all, Stern doesn’t want to make it too obvious that the fix is on. He has had the occasional strong Knicks team in 1994 and 1999. He has also subtly had the New York market in the mix this past decade with the New Jersey Nets appearing in two Finals. Let’s face it, New Jersey is just a giant suburb of New York.
Finally, how can an entire league be rigged? Well, you make the a couple key draft lotteries go the right way. You tie the hands of teams like Utah and Memphis to make stupid moves to give up Derek Fischer and Paul Gasol to the L.A. Lakers and twist it to make it look rational. You pay off referees. Don’t tell me that Tim Donaghy was an isolated incident. That Sacramento v. L.A. Lakers game wasn’t the only game decided by referees. Being a Bucks fan, I am all too aware of Game 6 of the Philadelphia v. Milwaukee Eastern Conference Finals where the referees gave the game to the 76ers. Even Ray Allen attested to that. I know that Glenn Robinson could have changed all of that by hitting a shot at the buzzer, but the referees were clearly calling that game in favor of Philly.
If you still think I’m wacko, just look at the bottom line. Year after year, big markets make the NBA Finals. In the past 30 years, there has been one NBA Finals featuring two teams not in the Top 10 market size: San Antonio vs. Cleveland. Just one! The odds of that happening are astronomical. The fix is in ladies and gentlemen. David Stern is running one big reality television show and is bringing in the big bucks.
But this is the NBA. Big markets find a way to get there. Whether it’s crooked referees, rigged ping pong ball drawings, or shady trades and player acquisitions, the NBA has found a way to always have at least one big market in the Finals almost every year during David Stern’s reign as commissioner.
I know that most people looked at me as a wacko when it comes to this stuff. Their arguments include 1) how can an entire league be rigged?. 2) if it was rigged, why have the New York Knicks stunk for so long?, 3) money is made when series go seven games, not when big markets make it (which is a complete joke) or 4) how do you explain the San Antonio Spurs? Okay, that last one is difficult, although San Antonio is a huge television market. It ranks in the top ten even though from a population standpoint, it is not.
All of the rest of these arguments hold no water. Looking at these other three points in reverse order: 3) Of course the league makes more money in riveting 7-game series, but they also make a ton of money when big markets are in the mix. Compare any 7-game series with L.A. with a 7-game series without L.A. and the first one makes more. In fact, I would be willing to bet that a 5-game series with L.A. and let’s say someone like Dallas gets better ratings than a highly contested and exciting 7-game series between Utah and Portland.
2) Why have the New York Knicks stunk for so long? Two reasons. First of all, even David Stern can’t fix organizations that have made so many bad decisions. And second of all, Stern doesn’t want to make it too obvious that the fix is on. He has had the occasional strong Knicks team in 1994 and 1999. He has also subtly had the New York market in the mix this past decade with the New Jersey Nets appearing in two Finals. Let’s face it, New Jersey is just a giant suburb of New York.
Finally, how can an entire league be rigged? Well, you make the a couple key draft lotteries go the right way. You tie the hands of teams like Utah and Memphis to make stupid moves to give up Derek Fischer and Paul Gasol to the L.A. Lakers and twist it to make it look rational. You pay off referees. Don’t tell me that Tim Donaghy was an isolated incident. That Sacramento v. L.A. Lakers game wasn’t the only game decided by referees. Being a Bucks fan, I am all too aware of Game 6 of the Philadelphia v. Milwaukee Eastern Conference Finals where the referees gave the game to the 76ers. Even Ray Allen attested to that. I know that Glenn Robinson could have changed all of that by hitting a shot at the buzzer, but the referees were clearly calling that game in favor of Philly.
If you still think I’m wacko, just look at the bottom line. Year after year, big markets make the NBA Finals. In the past 30 years, there has been one NBA Finals featuring two teams not in the Top 10 market size: San Antonio vs. Cleveland. Just one! The odds of that happening are astronomical. The fix is in ladies and gentlemen. David Stern is running one big reality television show and is bringing in the big bucks.
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