Fire David Stern

[Weird Facts]

First off, I think we need a David Stern thread where we can discuss anything and everything we despise about this man.

This is something that really bothers me, I'm curious if anyone else notices it.

Every time Stern is questioned about a controversial topic, he has this snide smile on his face as he down talks it, or simply implies, "Hey I'm the Boss."

I find it not only annoying, but completely improper for a commissioner of any league to deal with issues this way.

Examples include: the 1st round Paul Pierce gesture incident.

Stern's response was something along the lines of, "Well he can appeal it, but I'm the one who reviews his appeal, so oh well."

How about not being responding like an arrogant jerk and saying, "Yes, Paul Pierce has put in an appeal, we will review it once more and decide whether the fine was warranted." 

I mean isn't that a much more professional way of dealing with it?


Example 2:  The latest Official allegations,  "Stern initially had the same dumb smile on his face and pretty much said Donahue was just looking for attention."

Yeah thats a great way to deal with it commissioner, why don't you present some facts to refute Donahue's comments.  We are supposed to believe what you say simply because your the commissioner?


Man, I want this guy fired, he really gets under my skin. 

Mark me down as someone who is very happy Mr. Stern is being investigated, its about time.

[blake]

Mark me down for one of the few who will disagree with you.  I personally like that he didn't give the politically correct answer in that situation.  He could say that "we" are going to review it and bla bla blowing smoke, but he actually told the truth. 

As far as the league goes (these are all assumptions and not truths I have looked up):  The league is more profitable than when he started.  The league has more fans.  Though I don't like the WNBA and "I would say it" that the WNBA is horrible.  I think it is great for women athletes to have a place to play after college, and Stern brought along the WNBA.  All in all he has done a good job in the last 24 years.  You can pick at some small mistakes that have been made along the way, but he has done a great job overall.  We aren't having to worry about our league falling apart like the NHL.

[Sweet17]

His smug attitude makes me think he is hiding something. I actally believe Donaghy. I can imagine Stern engaging in such collusion.

Pete

[angryguy77]

Mark me down for one of the few who will disagree with you.  I personally like that he didn't give the politically correct answer in that situation.  He could say that "we" are going to review it and bla bla blowing smoke, but he actually told the truth. 

As far as the league goes (these are all assumptions and not truths I have looked up):  The league is more profitable than when he started.  The league has more fans.  Though I don't like the WNBA and "I would say it" that the WNBA is horrible.  I think it is great for women athletes to have a place to play after college, and Stern brought along the WNBA.  All in all he has done a good job in the last 24 years.  You can pick at some small mistakes that have been made along the way, but he has done a great job overall.  We aren't having to worry about our league falling apart like the NHL.

I think the profitability can be atributed to bird, magic, and mj. I don't think if you would have had these high caliber talents in the league at that time, the NBA would be where it is today. Stern has turned the NBA into a joke amonge the average sports fan. Remeber when Shaq came into the league? Stern promoted that guy before he even achieved anyhting. Under sterns watch the star treatment has become laughable. Star treatment is in my opinion the reson why people don't trust the league. Every year the league gets together and says its going to do better on certain aspects about the officiating. But every year we see more of the same bad officiating and questions are raised as to the integrity of the league. This guy is more concerned with making money now than doing whats best for the game in the long run.

I dont necessarily believe what donaghy has to say, but I do hope that this brings down Stern and we get a commissioner that has the best interest for the league at heart.

[Celtic]

Say what you want about profits and fan numbers, but the product on the court has deteriorated dramatically over the past ten years, under his watch. I do find his smug attitude to be extremely irritating, and I find his demeanor of autonomy to be disturbing in a league whose true fans, by majority, dislike him.

I vividly remember game 6 in 2002, thought it was fixed that night, and have never wavered from that thinking. Donaghy mentioning that game in particular, definitely adds a great deal of validity to what he says, and makes Stern lose even more of the miniscule amount of credibility he has left.

[Bankshot]

His smug attitude makes me think he is hiding something. I actally believe Donaghy. I can imagine Stern engaging in such collusion.

Pete

I agree.  I don't believe for one second that Stern doesn't know anything about what's going on.  I wouldn't put it past him if he was in on it.  Can't stand that little troll.

Did anyone hear Dale and Holley talking about NBA officials meeting with refs just before games and pointing out that certain players have a habit of doing certain things all the time like traveling or constantly doing offensive fouls, etc.?  They would tell the refs to watch that player for those things and the ref would make sure they make those calls on that particular player.  You think Stern doesn't know anything about this?  Of course he does!  Shameful!

Fire Stern!

[LarBrd33]

I don't approve of how he's handled the Seattle situation, but I gotta give him credit for forcing the Wolves to trade KG to Boston and forcing the Grizz to trade Pau to LA so that we could have this epic showdown.

Well done David Stern... I appreciate the help after we got stuck with the #5 pick.  WEll done...

[Schupac]

Whether you believe he's in on it or not (and I very much do), this league has taken step after step towards WWE style entertainment.

And I'm not an "entertainment" fan.  I'm a sports fan.  So I want the commissioner to be interested in helping the sport.  Sports league's are very interesting in that technically they are privately owned businesses, but they also are to a certain degree public trusts.  They can't be run like businesses from top to bottom.



INCARCERATE STERN WOOOOO!

[Casperian]

If you believe in jinxing, just a little bit, I think calling out Stern while your team is in the NBA finals is not a smart idea. 

[Weird Facts]

If you believe in jinxing, just a little bit, I think calling out Stern while your team is in the NBA finals is not a smart idea. 

I believe in Jinxing and more than a little bit. 
I think it has absolutely nothing to do with this post. 

[dlpin]

I think Stern is the most overrated commish in all of sports. First of all, he lucked into becoming commish just as Bird and Magic were hitting their peaks, and just as Jordan came into the league. Just look at it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association_Nielsen_ratings

tv ratings started going up at least 3 years before he became commissioner, and started nose diving immediately after jordan retired.

In the end, talent trumps the commissioner when it comes to popularity (NHL finals ratings more than doubled from last year, for example).

Even the stuff that most credit him for, such as the "nba going global" is pure BS and myth building. Basketball was already the second most popular sport in most of Europe and Latin America, and it was only natural that with internet and satellite tv it would go global. Even then, (American) Football gained much more exposure globally even though it started from a much lower position in terms of popularity.

And when we look at Stern's specific measures and issues, we cannot be anything but unimpressed: WNBA, NDBL, the issues with the refs, the constant rule changes in the 90s that Edited for profanity.  Please do not do it again.ized the sport for a while, the lock out, expansion, teams tanking, etc.

But what has to top it all for me is the Seattle issue. Not only did Stern buy into the whole "relocate to Oklahoma" deal, but he has done so in a "scorched earth" type of way that might just ruin seattle's interest in the NBA forever. Instead of acting cool and trying to resolve things in the background, he comes out with these wild quotes on the NBA leaving seattle for a long, long time, etc. His acquiescence to Clay Bennett's "Major League" like performance in Seattle, his grand standing as the lawsuits are ongoing and so on are just ridiculous. Finding some way to get a team to seattle is certainly much better for the league than the bad publicity and potential legal precedents (long shot as they may be) that this case will set. Oklahoma city "whatevers" will at best be the new "memphis grizzlies", relocating from market to market collecting public money as free agents and stars want nothing to do with them...

[cordobes]

I vividly remember game 6 in 2002, thought it was fixed that night, and have never wavered from that thinking. Donaghy mentioning that game in particular, definitely adds a great deal of validity to what he says (...)

How so? I think it's quite the opposite. He mentions that game like any NBA fan does mention it when trying to make the point that some games are fixed.

[cordobes]

The NBA is not a government department, it's a private enterprise. If Stern's bosses are happy with him, they shall keep him - the corollary is that if they had kept him all these years is because they're probably happy with his work. If you don't like the product, quit buying it (or even start your own basketball pro league). If that happens, Stern will eventually be fired.

[D Dub]

How about replacing some of these officials? 

Like how Mexico is dealing with corruption in the Tiajuana police force, they rotate the police out on a monthly basis so they can't become entrenched/corrupt.  How long have Bavetta and Crawford been in the league now? 

The NBA acts like its harder to find qualified officials than players...  There is no good reason not to replace most of these guys, especially now with all these allegations. 

I would certainly feel better if Stearn said, "fine, I will bring in all new officials to prove there is no bias."  Him sticking with the same stable of old horses reaks of corruption.

[Andy Jick]

the david stern i remember 20 years ago was more humble and affable...i don't like what he's become over time.