David Stern says the New Ball stays
And David Stern gets what David Stern wants. Always.
It’s the oldest story in the world. Power corrupts. David Stern, the Sternbot, is considered by many to be the greatest commissioner in sports. He took a league that was known for fighting and drugs, marketed flashy star players and personalities in the Magic-Bird era, promoted the Michael Jordan machine to take the league global, and made the NBA into a multinational conglomeration, whatever that word means.
I’ve always been a big Stern fan. Beyond the jokes about how he can have anyone killed at anytime on this planet, he always seemed to do what was best for the league, and he has a certain sarcastic sense of humor about himself that is very enjoyable. Sure, promoting individual players more than the teams they play for has created a culture of superstar entitlement that is a huge turnoff to many non-NBA fans, but under his watch the game of basketball has become approximately 10,000,000 times bigger than it was when he started.
That being said… at some point in the past he went too far. I like to trace it back to when the NBA left NBC and got in bed with ABC/ESPN/DISNEY. Maybe it goes farther back then that, when the reputation calls for superstars were getting out of hand. I don’t knowif there’s one event we can trace it to, but there was some point in time when Stern decided that it’s his league and he will be the one calling the shots. He admitted that he was the one that made the Ron Artest suspension decision by himself. This kind of behavior happens to most if not all powerful leaders. The megalomania bug infects them, and they go crazy with their own power. By the way, I really need to go see The Last King of Scotland.
So, you know all about the dress code protests, the controversial banning of straight out of high school players, and people questioning if there is a referee conspiracy. I thought then that maybe Stern is asserting a little too much absolute power, but it’s his league and he has a long track record of making it profitable, so he gets to make the call.
Howeva… He is not backing down from this new ball deal. He’s saying I AM THE BOSS, DO WHAT I SAY. Is he even listening to the complaints? I know the players are overdoing it with the whining, and people can be resistant to change when they are familar with something, but it really feels like Stern is putting his foot down and he doesn’t care what anyone thinks. That’s what military dictators do. David Stern is supposed to be a representative of the best interests of the owners and do what’s best for the game. Him saying that we’re going to the new ball and that’s final, with all kinds of opposition from the people that will be playing with that ball, just does not sit right with me. He’s the boss.
In other corporate NBA news, comes this partnership with Lenovo PCs. I don’t know what to think of Lenovo. Lenny Wilkens was involved with the announcement somehow, prompting Lang to skip the press conference. I guess this could just be a corporate league buddying up with another corporate sponsor, but it also says that coaches will have access to the computers right on the sideline and will know statistically which 5 man combinations benefit them. I enjoy the statistical side of sports, and I’ve read baseball prospectus books and all of that, but at some point I get tired of the robotization of athletes. One small item of good news buried in the story is that refs will be reviewing their first half performance at half time using these computers. Admitting there are flaws? Interesting. We’ll see how that works out. QUESTEC for the NBA!
24 Responses to “David Stern says the New Ball stays”
Oct.24 at 12:43 pm
marcel mutoni says:
stern has power; players are unhappy; stern still does what he wants: rinse, rather, repeat.
Oct.24 at 12:48 pm
t dot j. says:
yo i get this weird feeling that some sort of illumaniti type power is running the L and sternbot is just their puppet. cuz no man can be that hardheaded to basically ignore they employees, or can they?????????? tdot………………
Oct.24 at 12:50 pm
t dot j. says:
just finished watching “the skulls” got me thinkin conspiracies and shit now. like when they say dog food tastes like bacon who actually tastes it??????? tdot……………..
Oct.24 at 12:58 pm
marcel mutoni says:
t dot j.: how about you just stop talking for a while, champ?
Oct.24 at 1:03 pm
t dot j. says:
hahaha, yo i aint’t crazy man, beleive dat, just not enough sleep bro. tdot……………
Oct.24 at 1:21 pm
namik says:
“STERN SAID HE HAS HANDELED THE BALL AND DOSEN’T AGREE THAT THE BALL BOUNCES DIFFERENTLY..” Oh right! I guess thats all it takes to make desicions in the NBA these days. A 60 year old man goes bounces the ball around and decides that it’s good enough. The guys who are going to use these balls for 82+ games obviously dont know what the hell they’re talking about. Stern was alright even though he had this sense of arrogance that always annoyed the hell out of me, but his attitude over the last 3 years plus some stupid change every year makes me think that it might be time to get a new commish. I mean,player wise, the L is fine and every fan knows that the biggest problem with the game is the reffing. Stern just keeps making it worse.
Hey, how does the commish get chosen in the first place???
Oct.24 at 1:57 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
How’s that rathering comming Mutoni?
Oct.24 at 2:08 pm
Young C says:
How’s this for a conspiracy theory? I have a feeling that alot of these tedious little changes are just being issued as leverage for future collective bargaining agreements. Think about it: touch fouls, dress code, no sweat bands!? I think that alot of these changes are just being put into place so that when David Stern tells the players union that he wants to raise the age limit to 21 and take away the players’ gauranteed contracts, all he’ll have to do is give Iverson back his arm sleeve.
Oct.24 at 2:11 pm
Dj says:
We need to get stern out of the NBA office and into the halls of the White House. I’m serious.
Oct.24 at 2:12 pm
Patrick says:
I feel like Cuban getting involved with ballgate hurts his cause more than helps. David Stern resents Cuban, he’s got too on some level. An owner becoming a superstar, and it seems like Cuban likes to challenge Stern’s authority alot. Cuban doesn’t want to turn the ball issue into Cuban vs. Stern, and further drive stern into a closeminded state on the issue.
Oct.24 at 2:38 pm
Tyson says:
to follow up on namik’s comment, seeing as the recent changes in power at the top in other major sports leagues (tagliabue, selig), i could see stern heading out soon as well. If this was the case and a new commish would be on the way, i’d have to hope he institutes something Lang has noted on a few times: a sort of adult night promo. I know family values are important and the league has to pertain to be a positive influence on kids, but they’ve really gotta dull down on the family-oriented sh*t. Why do you think the NFL is so popular? When you look at it from a financial perspective, if the NBA gave itself a more adult atmosphere, it would wane parents from bringing their children when they’re too young, thus making the kids more eager to go when their older,(kinda like how bars work, although I am in no sense reccommending an age limit to games) which in turn, would make for a larger fan base and more money. P.S If David Stern steps down, would he name the Championship trophy the David Stern trophy? Man we need a better name for that thing, NFL has Superbowl, MLB has World Series, we have Larry O’Brien? Ok, i’m done now.
Oct.24 at 3:10 pm
rob stewart says:
George Bush
Oct.24 at 3:18 pm
Creech says:
A conglomeration is a large corporation made up of unrelated industries
Oct.24 at 3:34 pm
Rome says:
“So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause—Padme”. What is that applause in the NBA? From the NBA’s target market. It aint kids, it aint families, it’s those college educated, white collar, males age 21-50, who buy all the dang season tickets, who cannot relate to todays players (tats, cornrows, wristbands, stockings, rubberbands, hip hop, ect..), or the street game, so Stern forces the game to adjust to them. All he got left to do now is get that stupid trapezoid in the lane and his “order 66″ against the street players will be complete.
Stern does not like those who like the game to be grimy and street because he knows more often than not they dont go to games, and they dont buy season tickets, but those who like that Larry Brown game, have all the money and can afford to throw $2000 on some season tickets.
Yeah I’m making Star Wars references, so what, you know why, Stern = Palpatine because he has absolute power. And Kobe, Lebron, Wade = Anakin because the rules were changed so they could dominate, just like they did with Jordan (not that he wasnt dominating already, may my spit be upon him). (Oh, Kirilinko = General Grevious). I say enough is enough, the players need to revolt.
This ballgate is the last straw for me. I dont know if we need to make another league, for those who like a grimy game (that ole NY Knicks, Pistons style circa 1987-1993). I wanna see fights, I wanna see brawls and rivalries, I want players to go to the hole, get a hard foul, and not have their opponent help them off the floor (Laimbeer is rolling over in his grave). I wanna see elbows, hard screens. I wanna see players talk junk and back it up, I wanna see players dunk and hang on the rim and get in someones face about it. I wanna see them make the “cut throat” sign when they lightin’ the other team up and not get a tech for taunting. All my cats I grew up with say the same thing.
Stern you ruined my game. But thats okay, is a revolution in the works, but there’s only one person who can finish it. Thats Anakin (Kobe, Wade, Lebron). Yo fella’s, yall got to overthrow this Stern cat, man, he ruining the game. Strike, or start another league or something, but the revolution must start today. (I just aint got the money to pay for it). It’s Time for a revolution!!!!
Oct.24 at 3:39 pm
H to the izzo says:
He has done good for the L but he has just gotten senile and should step down before he introduces a manners rule where if the player recieves a pass from a teammate or steals the ball the player must say ‘thank you’ or else he’s called for a foul. You say power corrupts what if the players ran the ,the schedule would be cut to 20 games and the salary caps would be unlimited-having said that I still thinf SHEED should be commish
Oct.24 at 5:23 pm
Creech says:
Stern is a victim of his own success, and of the NFL’s success. His burden is not to grow, but to maintain a level of growth which may not be attainable. Our society is becoming more and more segmented. The big three sports are being challenged by other sports and by other mediums (video games, for instance). I don’t think Stern’s changes are going to be able to make-up for those factors.
Oct.24 at 5:33 pm
DP says:
Well he is the boss. monta for most improved player of the year. don’t fell like typing the rest. play wit it.
Oct.24 at 10:22 pm
DP9 says:
Poor guy. He’s one unessasry move away from becoming the most unwanted commissioner in nba history. Bd enough he is already adding even more stupid rules. I hope people become well adjusted to the ball.
Oct.24 at 11:42 pm
Teddy-the-Bear says:
David Stern needs to leave the NBA. This guy is superly messed man. No wonder Mr. Stern gets booed at every NBA game he is introduced in. Belieeve dat.
Oct.25 at 12:00 am
Russ Bengtson says:
I think this whole new ball thing has been blown WAY out of proportion. A month into the season, no one will be talking about this.
Oct.25 at 12:38 am
ATrain says:
Russ, what happens when turnovers are up at an alarming rate across the league? I’d think players would still be talking about it then.
Oct.25 at 3:57 am
simon says:
I think the manners rule wud b great. and instead of callin for the ball, u hav to say “please!”…
Oct.25 at 4:41 am
Gilbert0 says:
yep, stern will turn around to spalding and say the ball sucks, the players dont like it, lets change back. spalding will love that. do ya think stern is that kind of businessmen. all the people bagging him should start living in the real world. the reason every player is a millionaire is cos of stern. they should be kissing his freakin ass. play wid it
Nov.4 at 2:10 pm
Ralph says:
Stern is a cancer in the NBA. He gets way too much credit for the success of this league. The latest round of power has completely turned me off to this game. No one person should be able to freely make up any rule any time they wish - and the owners need to get a commissioner that is well-received by the public. Why they haven’t pushed for this is a huge mystery, there are obviously some corrupt forces at work to keep this idiot in power.