Sports Lawyer Michael McCann looks at various pieces of recent evidence and is convinced that David Stern's authority is due to be tested. (http://www.truehoop.com/leaguewide-issues-55564-taskmaster-david-stern-facing-new-kinds-of-heat.html)

Sports Law Blog (http://sports-law.blogspot.com/2006/11/revolution-against-david-stern-and.html)
Dictatorships are never popular, at least in hindsight. They always seem to crumble as people tire of losing their freedom and being told what to do. Perhaps that is why Victor Hugo once said,"When dictatorship is a fact, revolution is a right."

I'm attaching McCann's "The Reckless Pursuit of Dominion"

Finally someone besides the fans are complaining about him. Only thing we used to hear was what a great commish he is and how he saved the league back in the 80's,etc...

McCann’s article is interesting, at times very loosely argued and wrongheaded, but at other times right on. His examination of how situational analytics can overly influence our perceptions of events is often very interesting (sometime inappropriate I think, but interesting). The juxtaposition of the rookie wage scale, the dress code, and the age floor for entry into the NBA with the Chicago Bulls’ attempt to require Eddy Curry to take a DNA test intended to diagnose a heart ailment (while itself a bad thing on many fronts) just doesn’t seem to work.

Rookie wage scale – I’m finding it hard to buy into much of his argument and his lack of acknowledgement if whether Juwan Howard getting a $100 million contract is a good thing for the league overall or not is just glaring. His most telling argument, that agreements are driven by those at the table (e.g., veterans and their representatives) and not those who have yet to play (i.e., undrafted rookies) seems enough to explain why we have rookie contracts without having to resort to the grand NBA conspiracy theory.

Dress code – A closer match to his argument, but he still seems to leave out the other side.

Age floor – Easily the most interesting of the sections. And the one that best illustrates his application of common social psych theory to how we perceive things. But, he doesn’t really explain how the league benefits in ways different from the players association. And without that differential I find it hard to buy that the league is conspiring to belittle the players in some way.

But the main argument is about Eddy Curry. And that just doesn’t hold up for me. I’m not arguing that the Bulls had any right to make a DNA test a precondition of employment. But, the article repeatedly says things like “From a broader perspective, the NBA’s…” when referring to the Bulls decision to make the test a condition of employment. The basic fact that the Knicks choose to offer Curry a contract destroys the notion that somehow the Bulls act was indicative of some broader league intent. And as with most of the argument he simply fails to consider whether the Bulls might have had other reasons for wanting the highest degree of certainty they could get. Maybe they were thinking they might be held liable if Curry played and died and they had allowed him to do so without requiring the test. In a society when you can sue a fast food place for serving you hot coffee and win, maybe it’s a valid concern. Not one I can buy in this case, but without attempting to examine the Bulls’ motivations his argument just doesn’t hold up for me.

Anyway, it’s long. But the second on the age floor is really interesting, from page 18-34.

And doesn't really have anything to say about Stern.

On Friday Night at halftime of the game between Dallas and the Spurs, Mavs GM Keith Grant got handed the phone, when he put the receiver to his his ear, a shrill whistle blew - exploding his eardrum into tiny little bloody fragments;


"Mavericks assistant general manager Keith Grant got an interesting phone call from the NBA office at halftime of Friday night's game. It was to inform the Mavs that they needed to limit their players from showing so much exuberance on the sidelines during the game. The league is cracking down on players standing in front of the bench, which of course blocks the views of customers in the not-inexpensive seats near the bench." Dallas Sun

Leave it to the Sternimator to find a way to punk Mark Cuban. Almost every night as I whizz thru my Direct TV NBA Package I see players whoopin it up on the sidelines.

Apparently, per the Sternimator, we need even more mediocrity. We need equalization. We need stepford ballers. We need absolutely no emotions shown on the floor or on the sidelines.

Good God Man! We can't risk pissing off those fans in the high dollar seats! You know the ones, we usually see them aggravating the opposing bench to no end while either chugging beer, or (with studious look upon their face), discerning the distance a beer filled plastic container might sail if flung properly toward the opposing cheering players.

Protect thy dollar and do not holler...

"Mavericks assistant general manager Keith Grant got an interesting phone call from the NBA office at halftime of Friday night's game. It was to inform the Mavs that they needed to limit their players from showing so much exuberance on the sidelines during the game. The league is cracking down on players standing in front of the bench, which of course blocks the views of customers in the not-inexpensive seats near the bench." Dallas Sun

Frankly, I don't really care if NBA players have to dress nicely. Many employers require a certain standard of dress, especially for public facing staff. Not sure why guys who can afford custom made suits should be treated any differently.

And maybe the rule was taken a bit too far, but nobody ought to be allowed to scream and curse or make silly gestures at the referees. Let the players grow up and learn to take their frustrations out on the opposition.

But even for me, this goes way, way too far.

Hear ya DB.

I conjure up this image of Stern and his merry troop "minny me's" all sitting in front of a wall with a bank of big screens. It's Friday night.
A dozen games blaring.

Instead of rewinding a realtime game tape to question the validity or invalidity of another whistle for aggressive eye blinking on the hardwoods, they're fixated on the replays of the Mavs bench players, players who aren't even involved in any of the real action taking place.

Then, in a fit of a pepsi induced sugar rage, they goose step over and get on the red 'hotline' at the half to vent with Keith Grant over the inappropriateness of it all.. the horror - the horror...

(instead of simply sending a fax on Saturday afternoon)...

It says something regarding their priorities...

This is an image I found at the Official Sternimator website. It shows a couple of his crackerjack oompah loompah hardwood officals right after they noted the offense by Cubans Mavs - you can see they're very upset...

http://mud.mm-a1.yimg.com/image/169888815 (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5mliEGpFxQoAFUiJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHZkMjZ yBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=1fhfp4sru/EXP=1164665314/**http%3a//images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view%3fback=http%253A%252F%252Fimages.search.yahoo .com%252Fsearch%252Fimages%253Fp%253Doompah%252Blo ompah%2526btn%253DSearch%2526tab%253DImages%2526ei %253DUTF-8%2526fr%253Dmy-vert-img-top%26w=134%26h=100%26imgurl=wonkadotcom.tripod.co m%252Foompa2.jpg%26rurl=http%253A%252F%252Fwonkado tcom.tripod.com%252Foompasongs.html%26size=4.7kB%2 6name=oompa2.jpg%26p=oompah%2bloompah%26type=jpeg% 26no=1%26tt=92%26oid=9bc3645394dc451a%26ei=UTF-8)

And maybe the rule was taken a bit too far, but nobody ought to be allowed to scream and curse or make silly gestures at the referees. Let the players grow up and learn to take their frustrations out on the opposition.



I don't agree with screaming at the refs either but the league doesn't hold these refs accountable when they make blatant bad calls and then you have the superstar whistle which has been fueling the growing anger. That's why we are getting are behinds handed to us in International play because those International refs know what they are doing and call the game the way it is supposed to be called and are not under Stern's agenda.

Indeed. In the old days, superstars got calls, but you were allowed to lay the wood on them and make them earn it.

Players get whistled for nothing now, and the contact that was normal in '88 would be flagrant 1s today.

Voluntary Trade Blog » Blog Archive » Defeating a Stern Bureaucracy (http://voluntarytrade.org/blog/?p=292)

Stern is Exhibit A for bureaucratic management. His policies are designed to do little more than consolidate his own power without benefiting the league or its customers. One example is the off-the-court dress code imposed on all players starting in 2005. Another is the arbitrary 19-year-old age requirement designed to keep high school graduates from playing immediately in the NBA. And then there’s the classic example of Stern silencing the NBA’s owners—his own bosses—who dare to criticize the league’s management or officiating in public. As I noted in an earlier post, if a CEO of a publicly-traded company tried to silence his critics, all hell (and the SEC) would break loose.

Link courtesy of Sports Law Blog via TrueHoop.com