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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 1st 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