In case you missed it, Field Marshall Stern decided to take a swipe at the New York Knicks organization in an ESPN interview that was broadcast on Tuesday. Stern was commenting on the Anucha Browne Sanders lawsuit against the Knick organization. Don't get me wrong. I think that what Mr. Stern said about the Knicks was absolutely true. I just think it was more than a little hypocritical for the statement to be coming from a guy who has basically mismanaged the NBA into the ground.
Read below to see what David had to say about the Knicks:
"It demonstrates that they're not a model of intelligent management. There were many checkpoints along the way where more decisive action would have eliminated this issue."
Tell me that isn't the pot calling the kettle black. That statement sounds more like something I would expect Mark Cuban to say to one of his friends in private when he was talking about the NBA and the Tim Donaghy situation.
If David Stern had decent checks and balances in place in the NBA he would have stopped the Tim Donaghy fiasco long before it ever started. Jeez, all the Commissioner had to do was listen to all the criticism of NBA referees that was coming from the players, owners, coaches, and fans over the last several years. But instead, Commissioner Stern chose to publicly patronize and belittle anyone who ever questioned the integrity of the officiating in the NBA. Time after time he would tell us that we were all stupid and that NBA referees were the most honest people in the world. Its not like there wasn't sufficient evidence to support many of the accusations about point shaving going on in the NBA. Have you watched an NBA game recently?
After the Tim Donaghy story broke I was convinced that David Stern would come out and apologize to the fans and take the full blame for what he had let the NBA become on his watch. But, that's not what happened.
Instead, he just belittled and patronized us some more. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember Mark Cuban getting any of his money back from all the ridiculous fines that he had to pay as a result of criticizing the officials over the years. I don't remember Stern giving Cuban any kind of public apology, either. Maybe if Stern had read one of those reports that Mark Cuban had compiled on the state of NBA refereeing this whole Donaghy thing could have been snuffed out before it ever got started.
It sounds to me like the NBA may not exactly be a "model of intelligent management."
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. David Stern IS the problem with the NBA. David Stern needs to resign so that the League can try to start working on rebuilding the relationship it used to have with its fans. I would imagine that there are a lot of sports fans out there who will never trust the NBA again as long as David Stern is in charge.
I say, "Fire the idiot and offer the job to Mark Cuban!"
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