David Stern has long since abandoned any appearance of ruling the NBA in an even-handed, unbiased way.
The way he has handled the Seattle Supersonics situation, his stated desire to expand to Europe, these things show how out of touch he is with the NBA's fanbase.
But his decision to not suspend anyone for the Celtics/Hawks Game 4 altercation puts his incompetence over the edge, in my opinion.
Maybe incompetence is the wrong word. Stern knows exactly what he's doing, and that makes it all the more maddening.
Here's what happened.
How Kevin Garnett is not suspended is beyond me.
A. He throws an elbow at Zaza Pachulia at the end of the play out of frustration. Technical-foul worthy, but not suspension-worthy. HOWEVER he then
B. after the ref comes to restrain him, he throws the referee off. How does that not count as initiating contact with a referee?
Then you have Kendrick Perkins and Marvin Williams stepping onto the court during the altercation, EXACTLY like Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw stepping onto the court during the Spurs/Suns incident last year.
Amare and Diaw were suspended for Game 5 of that series, effectively sinking Phoenix last season, and yet no suspensions were handed out for anyone involved in last night's game.
How invested is the NBA in a Boston/Los Angeles Finals?
I guess we'll see over the next couple weeks.
5 comments:
Oh. My. Ridiculous. No suspensions for anyone? And they T'd up Cassell and Johnson? Amazing.
This Celtics-Hawks series is stupid. I think the teams will just win at home every time.
Counterpoint: when he suspended Amare last year, didn't you think about how stupid it was, and how it should have never happened? Do you want him to continue making the same dumb mistake and screwing things up year after year, just for consistency's sake?
Gibb,
If you've made yourself the supreme overlord of the NBA, you need to be consistent.
If there is a stupid rule, change it. Don't arbitrarily enforce it depending on what you'd like to see in the league.
If it had been Kobe suspended instead of Amare in last year's playoffs, you'd be screaming for blood.
Nah, last year was no biggie for the Lakers. If he was suspended this year, you're right I'd be pissed. And I admit, you have the best idea: just get rid of the rule. And the next best idea: have a board that makes final decisions, not one supreme decision maker.
Post a Comment