ABUSE OF POWER

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are my opinions and are not based on any actual factual information. Granted, they are my strong opinions, but still not based on any facts. Alright David Stern, that should cover my a$$.

We are now three weeks away from the 2012 edition of the NBA draft. This is the time of year when your favorite team looks to the crop of incoming college and international players for a franchise savior, or a player that can contribute to turning them into a championship contender. That’s also what most fans are doing. Fans of the Hawks and Bobcats have a slightly different task ahead of them. The Hawks are looking for the next 6’8” underachieving player (Hawks management for some reason has an affinity for them), and the Bobcats are trying to decide which terrible player Michael Jordan will be drafting way too high. My guess is Harrison Barnes, but I’ll actually let Jordan make his bad draft pick before I proceed to bashing him for it. Stay tuned, that will probably be the topic of my July 1^st entry.

The NBA draft is designed to help bad teams improve quickly in order to theoretically give every team a chance to compete for championships. From 1966 to 1985 the draft order in the NBA was simply determined by each team’s record in the previous season. The worst team would pick first, and the rest of the teams would continue to pick in that order. In 1984 many teams complained that their opponents were tanking games in order to win the draft rights to Hakeem Olajuwon. In response to these complaints the NBA introduced a lottery system, which would have a long lasting impact. The first NBA lottery was held in 1985. Although 162 players were ultimately selected in the then seven round draft, there was one player that every team coveted. If you’re thinking former Hawks great John Koncak, you are incorrect. The player that I am speaking of is Hall of Fame Center, Patrick Ewing.

If the draft lottery had not been instituted, Ewing would have most certainly been drafted by the Indiana Pacers or Golden State Warriors (since they tied for the league’s worst record, a coin flip would have taken place to decide which team would pick first). However, now that there was a lottery, each non-playoff team would have an equal chance of winning Ewing’s services. Everyone who follows the league knows that the NBA benefits when the Celtics, Lakers, and Knicks are good. These are the country’s largest media markets, and are all cities with diverse ethnic populations, which allow the game to be marketed globally as well. In 1984 the Celtics and Lakers won 63 and 62 games respectively, so they were both obviously in good shape. That left the Knicks as the league’s only cornerstone franchise that was not relevant. That left David Stern with a decision to make. Should he allow the lottery to actually determine the draft order, or should he use the lottery for its originally intended purpose? That intended purpose is to allow the commissioner to simply place the top pick in the city of his choosing. Obviously he chose to make the Knicks relevant. So what if it was at the expense of fans in the farmlands of America. Oh, and by the way the commish wasn’t very fond of the bay area either. Although Ewing never brought a championship to the big apple, he (Commissioner Stern) did make sure that the Knicks contenders for the next decade and a half.

This brings us to 2003, when another can’t miss prospect was set to arrive to the NBA. His name is LeBron James. You may have heard of him, he’s turned out to be a pretty decent player. The arrival of LeBron forced Stern to have to make yet another tough decision. Just like in 1985, the Celtics and Lakers were both playoff teams, so there was no way for him to hand him over to them. However, the Knicks were bad once again. He could toss New York yet another bone, or he could create the feel-good story of the year, by making James a member of his hometown team. Stern is a smart man, and he knew that the conspiracy theorists would have gone crazy if he gave the Knicks another can’t miss prospect. Therefore, he did the smart thing and sent him to Cleveland. Within three years, the Cavaliers were must see television and dominating the NBA’s national television coverage. It was a match made in heaven. The hometown prep star leading the hometown team back to prominence. It had all the makings of an ABC Family Channel movie. That is until he decided to "take his talents to South Beach."

Now to this year’s can’t miss prospect, Anthony Davis. Davis is easily the best big-man prospect since Dwight Howard entered the league in 2004. Whichever team gets him is going to instantly become competitive. Since the Celtics, Lakers, and Knicks were all playoff teams this season, Commissioner Stern can send Davis to any team that he pleases. Conventional wisdom would say that Stern would ensure that the Charlotte Bobcats would win the lottery. They were after all the worst team in NBA history (by winning %) this past season, and one would think that Stern owes team owner Michael Jordan a favor for single-handedly growing the league beyond what anyone could imagine during his playing days. Under normal circumstances, Jordan would’ve most certainly been awarded Davis. However, these were not normal circumstances for the New Orleans Hornets or the NBA.

In 2010, then Hornet’s owners George Shinn and Gary Chouest wanted to sell the team. Since no buyer could be found, The NBA was forced to purchase the team. Therefore the league has owned the team for nearly a year and a half. They were insistent on finding an owner who would purchase the team and keep it in New Orleans. The NBA was unsuccessful in its quest until April when New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson purchased the Hornets as well. It was reported that Benson paid approximately $338 million for the team. However, I firmly believe (just my opinion, since I have no proof), that $338 million didn’t just get Benson the Hornets, but it also got him the first overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.

Think about it. Even if Benson isn’t much of a college basketball fan, I’m pretty sure that he saw Anthony Davis play in the Final Four because it took place in the very same building that Benson’s NFL team calls home. A little over a week after Davis dominated the competition at the college level, in New Orleans, Benson agrees to take the Hornets off the NBA’s hands. The NBA has finally found an owner that will keep the Hornets in New Orleans, and in return Benson has a franchise player to replace Chris Paul on billboards all over the city.

The initial intent of the draft lottery was honorable. It was put into place to protect the integrity of the game. However, it is now being used as a vehicle for the commissioner to place future stars wherever he pleases. I’m sure it was also the luck of the draw that the Chicago Bulls just so happened to win the lottery when hometown hero Derrick Rose was the obvious selection. The lottery has protected the integrity of the game by taking away the incentive for teams to purposely lose games in order to get the first pick. However, the lottery has created a new problem, as I, along with many others are questioning the integrity of the commissioner.

Since there are only five players on the basketball court at a time for each team, one player makes a difference in the NBA more so than in any other sport. A strategically placed superstar player really affects the balance of power throughout the entire league. It’s time for the NBA to get rid of the draft lottery and simply go back to awarding the worst team the first pick in the draft and the rest of the draft order should fall accordingly. Will this cause teams to intentionally lose games to get a better draft pick? Of course it will, but I’d rather see everything decided on the basketball court than have the commissioner treat the entire league like his personal chess game.

As Kanye West famously said, “No one man should have all that power.” (Actually Kanye stole that line from a famous and historic movie which was based on a true story. I challenge anyone reading this to name that movie.) David Stern has too much power, and it’s about time that some of it is taken away from him.

And Now for my Baller & Scrub of the Week!

Baller: Rajon Rondo – The best point guard in the NBA lit up the Heat for 44 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds in a LOSING effort in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Let’s be honest, Rondo is holding this old and battered Celtics team together and he has led them to a place where they really have no business being. Paul Pierce is “injured”, or at least that’s what he says, but I never believe him because he is the biggest drama queen in the NBA. Ray Allen is playing like Trajan Langdon, Avery Bradley is legitimately injured, and there really aren’t many reliable options on the Boston bench. Thankfully Garnett is playing like its 2005, because he and Rondo are pretty much all the Celtics have. As you all know, I’m a Celtics fan, so I am obviously pulling for them to not only win this series, but also the championship. Anything less would be a disappointment. However, no matter how this season ends, we must all tip our hats to Rondo, Garnett, and Doc Rivers. These three men have somehow led the Celtics further than they had any business going this season.

Check out this hilarious Kevin Garnett video, simply because I think it’s funny:

Scrub: The Referees in the Eastern Conference Finals – I won’t go into too much detail because I don’t want to get fined by the league, but let’s just say this has been the worst officiated playoff series that I have ever seen in my life. I’ve seen technical fouls called for reasons that I haven’t figured out. I’ve seen clear path fouls called just because the referee wanted to know what it felt like to call one. I’ve also seen LeBron be put into a bear hug, Rondo get slapped in the face like he owes his pimp some money, and Garnett get kicked in the knee like he was in an MMA fight. Oh yeah, and none of these things were considered fouls by this top notch group. All I want to see is a series that is decided by the players on the court and not the referees, like the Kings-Lakers series of 2007 (Yeah, I said it!). It has long been believed that NBA games are fixed. I hope this isn’t the case, but if it is, at least try to make it less obvious.

Follow me on twitter @scashhomey