David Stern And The NBA

Yes, i live in Phoenix. Yes, i am a big Suns fan. Yes, i was incensed last year when Amare and Boris were suspended for Game 5. Yes, i've written extensively about it here.

All that said, i am over last year's suspensions. What happened is over and done with. I no longer show any anger towards it; i have accepted what happened and gotten over it.

David Stern, however, continues to rub it in Suns' fans faces.

I understand that there were no suspensions over the KG/Zaza altercation in the Celtics-Hawks game the other night. The issue at hand is that both Kendrick Perkins and Marvin Williams, during the altercation, were on their respective benches and stepped onto the court. In fact, both of them admitted to doing so.

But i'm actually glad no one got suspended. Neither team deserves to lose a player based on their small actions that did not result in escalating the situation.

But if what i heard is true, if Stu Jackson actually uttered the words 'I saw no intent in either player's actions', as is being reported, then i am FURIOUS. No intent?! NO FUCKING INTENT?!?! You said last year that intent did not matter and could not be discerned. If that's true, then i call Bullshit on David Stern, Stu Jackson, and the NBA.

I used to have a lot of respect for David Stern, he has done a lot of great things for the NBA, both domestically and nationally. But between this ruling, last year's ruling, how he handled the referee gambling situations, and how is currently butchering the Sonics situation, it may be time to look for a new leader.

Hypocrite

Throwing my obvious Suns' bias aside, this is absolutely ridiculous.

Remember all that fuss after Game 4 of the Western Conference Semi-finals, when Amare and Boris got suspended for 'leaving the immediate area of the bench'? And everyone talked about whether Stern should go by the letter of the law or allow a little interpretation? These were some of the Commish's comments after announcing the suspensions:

"A precedent wasn't necessary here. The rule with respect to leaving the bench area during an altercation is very clear."

"Historically, if you break it, you will get suspended, regardless of what the circumstances are."
"It's not a matter of fairness. It's a matter of correctness."

"That's why it's a red-letter rule."

(Read article here)

I will get to more Stern quotes in just a bit, but wanted to further expound on the situation of today. The League announced today that every single current NBA Referee has violated the LEAGUE RULES against referee's gambling of any kind. Admittedly, most were minor violations, such as playing poker or craps. Nevertheless, the League has a rule, and these referee's violated.

So let's get to the penalties that every single current NBA referee will be incurring: Nothing. In fact, instead of penalizing these LEAGUE RULE - BREAKING referee's, David Stern came out and said the rule was out-dated and will be thrown out. So, what happened to sticking to the letter of the law, and not allowing any interpretation Mr. Stern? Where was the 'red-letter rule' quotes about this latest scandal? I think this rule, much as the rule about leaving the bench, was VERY CLEAR. So what was the Commish's defense, where was his reasoning?

Stern said none of the violations was major, and no referees had admitted to wagering in a sports book or with a bookie.

"Our ban on gambling is absolute, and in my view it is too absolute, too harsh and was not particularly well-enforced over the years," Stern said. "We're going to come up with a new set of rules that make sense."

"It's too easy to issue rules that are on their faith violated by $5 Nassau, sitting at a poker table, buying a lottery ticket and then we can move along"

So, just to clarify Mr. Stern, what you're saying is that these rules, while just as clear and absolute as your rules about leaving the area of the bench during an altercation, are open to interpretation and second-guessing, while the others were not. They were, as you say, too absolute, too harsh and not well-enforced. Does this sound anything like the rules about leaving the area of the bench, when Amare and Boris were clearly not going anywhere to start an altercation?

In the business world, this is called CYA. Cover Your Ass. If you don't think this is what Stern is doing in this instance, you're incredibly naive. Stern has every single one of his ref's doing something illegal, all coming after the incredibly damaging Tim Donaghy scandal. He can't very well fire every ref he has, and he knows it. He could suspend each ref for a couple of games, spread out over the course of the season, pretty easily. But that only brings more attention and more negative connotations about the refereeing in NBA games, which has come under enough scrutiny the last few years, particularly in the playoffs. So how does Stern CYA?

He takes the blame himself. He knows it isn't anything that is going to get him in trouble. He says it hasn't been well-enforced for years, indicating this is a problem with not just him, but the league and it's rules, which places some of the blame on the owners as well for not 'fixing' this rule. For him and the league's reputation, it's the best thing he can do to cause the least amount of damage.

For the fans, however, it is another shady move by a commissioner who, up until the last two or three years, was widely regarded as the best commish in NBA history, and one of the best in all of sports. But as many high-ranking officials or CEO's eventually have, one thing will be his downfall: The Refereeing.

Whether it is this latest debacle, or the Tim Donaghy scandal, or the overall quality of refereeing during games the last few years, this will eventually be Mr. Stern's downfall. Every story about referee's in the last three years has been a negative one, and it is starting to affect the integrity of the game. And as i wrote about here, when the integrity of the game comes into question, the fans start to leave. When the fans start to leave, the money leaves. And when the money leaves, someone will get blamed. That someone will be David Stern