None of those things matter to the owners. The game took a step back in the late 90s. Now, they're recovering. They are penetrating foreign markets, the value of teams is going up, they have more cost certainty with the new CBA, everyone's got new and more profitable posh arenas paid for by the cities. From an owner's point of view, I don't see what's not to like. They've lost a little on television revenue from their zenith, but that doesn't exactly mean Stern has done a bad job.
I can't believe people blame David Stern for the quality of play. They play a zone in Europe and have no problem scoring points. Why don't you blame him for Hurricane Katrina, also. People whine about quality of play and how NBA teams can't score, yet it's been proven time and time again that the best defensive teams win the championships. To paraphrase John Calipari, The 80's Denver Nuggets are not coming through that door. The Showtime Lakers are not coming through that door. This is the way the NBA is. We're going to have a few 83-78 games. If you can't appreciate a good, hard fought NBA game, then NASCAR season starts in a few weeks. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.
Oh crap, was that Pitino? Damn, it was. I always get my great college coaches that couldn't do crap in the NBA mixed up. Heck, maybe it was Dick Vitale...
funny, I was watching NFL TV last night and they had an hr long special on Rozelle. I just watched the first thirty minutes. a couple of things he did that were copied by other sports leagues. He came up with revenue sharing. We all know how that is big in the NFL, allows the Green Bays to compete. He suggested monday night football and before that there were no sports on prime time television and or weekday televison. It was copied by MLB, NBA, and the Olympics. His first year in negotiating broadcasting rights he tripled their television contract. He had the guts to suspend Paul Hourning and Alex Karras each a year for gambling. I think Alex Karras was the dad on "Webster".
I'm not sure what games your watching but most coaches want their teams to run a fast break. The problem is that most of todays players are from the "And One" school of basketball where "I" comes before "team" and the pure fundamentals of basketball have been lost. In short most players don't know how to run a fast break. There really hasn't been good fast break teams since the 80's with the Lakers and Celtics. What the coaches don't want is turnovers and due to the lack of fundamentals most fast breaks today turn into a turnover. And as for Stern, he took a failing NBA in the 1980's and turned it into a global empire, I'd say that gives him some tenure. As far as the rules changes go, its driven by the fan attendance and feedback from both the fans and the players. Example: 5 second rule (Barkley rule) was due to the thought that it was slowing the game down to much. Removal of illegal defense was due to the thought that scoring was down. etc. In reality it comes back to the players not being able to hit a jumpshot, play in a team concept, run designed plays rather then freestyle, etc.
What do you know about the league before he became commisioner? How well, besides being a able to name players? You can't blame him for the fact that Larry, Magic, and Jordan retired. The number one issue isn't the rules, it's that the league is becoming overrun by pampered brats that get paid far too much money too soon and seldomn mature as men. Evan
Apparently you have never heard of the NFL. Do you really think the players want a hard cap and no guaranteed contracts?
You hit the nail on the head! The salaries in the NBA are so ridiculous that kids and their parents bet their futures on whether the kid can be a 1st round draft choice and maybe get a shoe contract. Academics and a balanced upbringing are cast aside for tournaments, tournaments and more tournaments to develop bball skills and expose kids to what COULD be. The money is just irresistable and when players like Garnett, Kobe, Tracy and especially LeBron succeed beyond all belief, thoursands of kids think they can too. The age limit may decrease some of the teensters coming in early but each year, older mature players retire and more brats come in. The maturity level of the players is decreasing and it diminishes the NBA product. And college bball isn't even interesting to me anymore because it's been gutted. The revenues have made the owners and players richer, but it's contributed to some of the NBA's flaws.
Stu is kinda like isiah thomas. the more they suck at what they do, the more they get promoted. if jackson plays this next olympics right and we finish 5th or 6th, commissioner should be right around the corner. and i'm pretty sure isiah is on the fast track to president of the united states with the way he's got the knicks going.
