David Stern: Hubris is as Hubris Does
So he had his long question and answer session yesterday. Pleaded ignorance on Tim Donaghy's badness. Continued to maintain Donaghy was rogue (Stern best hope so at this point, otherwise his credibility is nil). It got decent reviews. Not from everyone.
And then there's this thought. Mark Cuban has been begging for referee reform for years. Pleading that a meaningful way to review performance be undertaken. Been a lone NBA voice on behalf of millions of fans pointing out that the system appears flawed. And all he got for his efforts was fine after fine after fine. The amusing thing? If Stern had taken Cuban more seriously on this issue when he should have, then perhaps the damage from this deal wouldn't be as bad as I think it's going to be. If there were actually mechanisms that had been in place that would at least have shown people that the NBA was aware of the perception problems with regard to its refs and actually cared about that concerns, it would not be as hard a road as it is going to be now back to credibility. It might help if the alleged review process in place for NBA refs wasn't flawed enough that Donaghy (widely derided by players and league observers) was one of the top-rated refs last year.
Cuban, to his credit, appears to be taking the high road at the moment. Why wouldn't he? The shit that is flying right now? All in the direction of David Stern's smug face.
Oh, and in Phoenix? Where the fans of the Suns are still furious over the shenanigans on the court and from the league office in its series with the Spurs? The fact that the apparently all-time crooked Tim Donaghy ref'd the widely criticized Game 3 where Amare Stoudamire picked up three hellaciously quick fouls and fouled out with a mere 21 minutes played in the Spurs win isn't sitting too well. Dan Bickley in the Arizona Republic:
"But Stern's image never will be the same among the skeptics, the ones that believe he fixes draft lotteries and failing franchises, that he favors superstars and television ratings. And no place will be more dangerous for Stern than here in Phoenix, the pound-for-pound champion of conspiracy theorists, a region that already carried great mistrust of the commissioner and his merry band of zebras."
I can only imagine.
