NBA Commissioner David Stern can say what he wants, but the 2005 season has been a disaster.
It began with the brawl in Detroit and will end with a snooze-fest series between the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons. Instead of a thrilling series between the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat, we will get final scores in the 80s and team fouls in the double digits.
And, yes, these are the same Pistons that started the brawl in November. They will get home games before their deserving fans n the same fans that stormed the court looking for fights and pelted the Indiana Pacers with debris as they fled for their lives. And how can we forget the bomb threats upon the Pacers’ return to Motown later in the season.
Stern interrupted the playoffs to announce that lockout would most likely happen this year, then sat before Congress and was told that the league’s steroid policy “is a joke.”
There was the usual share of arrests and suspensions for behavior detrimental to teams, but probably the most shameful event happened last week when the NBA” first superstar, George Mikan, died virtually penniless.
What does that say about the multi-billion-dollar NBA and its unbridled selfishness? This me-first attitude begins in the commissioner’s office, not on the court.
If there is one thing that Major League Baseball and the National Football League have done, it is to readjust their pension rates for retired players. Do the old-timers make millions of dollars? No. But they are receiving a larger check based solely on the success of a league that were instrumental in helping grown into major moneymakers.
Stern’s summer should center on finding the NBA’s lost soul. Right now, it is a league out of control.