Thanks for making this even easier, commissioner

My catch-all statement for the NBA in the past 5 years or so, has been, "I'm not going to be a fanboy for this league."  In short, it means I'm not interested in consuming it, and I'm not buying what the league is selling. 

I sometimes struggle to stake out this adamant position while not simultaneously thumbing my nose at those who don't agree with me.  Because if I'm saying I'd be a fool for watching this league with its crooked refereeing (not a "conspiracy theory" - THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED), and rigged lotteries, and flopping, I'm sort of by default calling you a fool who is not seeing any of these things.  

But today, I have a terrific example of the root of the problem.  I don't listen to Jim Rome so I didn't hear his interview with David Stern live, but it went mainstream yesterday. 

(Audio and transcript here, courtesy of Sporting News)

I've been clear in the past about why I'm not a Rome fan, but I don't think he was out of place here.  It was a fair line of questioning that the commissioner could have dismissed in a calm, diplomatic, and friendly manner.  Something like, "I'm glad you asked, I always appreciate the opportunity to debunk an unfair criticism of my great league..."

Instead - straight from the Doth Protest Too Much department - he gets immediately defensive, and comes off as a petty, dickish bully.  And need I remind you, this is a commissioner of a professional sports league!  

Mainly pay attention to the attacking of the source instead of addressing the issue at hand, right down to his final statement,  “Listen, I gotta go call someone important like Stephen A Smith now..."  Come on Stern, everybody knows Stephen A. Smith is awful, and name dropping him like it's some kind of super-trolling trump card was pathetic.

All that said, Rome missed out on a big opportunity to ask more specific questions, such as:

"Do you at least acknowledge that a lot of people have doubts about your lottery, and how do you intend to prove them wrong?"
"Why is the lottery not shown publicly?"
"Who supplies the 'codes' used to assign to the teams, and why is the overall process so unnecessarily convoluted?" 

So, again, this is why I don't watch the NBA, and probably never will again, at least as long as Stern is in charge.  You can join ESPN if you want, an organization that supposedly "covers" the league while also being a billion dollar partner in broadcasting their games (Hmm, conflict of interest there?), and be a lapdog for the NBA, but I hope you join me instead.   As consumers, like with most other products, our voice is expressed only by whether or not we consume this garbage. 


***6/15 Update***

Great article by Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski today, on why it's time for Stern to go.  A small portion to whet your appetite...

For all the young diva stars in the sport, no one has an entourage of yes men as deep as the NBA's commissioner. Rest assured, everyone told Stern how out of line Jim Rome was on Wednesday, that Stern’s public tantrum was validated, that Stern justifiably defended his honor. Rest assured, no one dared tell the commissioner he needed to put the NBA above himself, stop the preening and let Kevin Durant and LeBron James be the stars of these Finals.


No one dares tell Stern the ultimate truth that his ego, his vindictiveness, is an embarrassment to the league.

Also, delicious mop-up from Stern's "I gotta go call someone important like Stephen A. Smith now..." comment.  I went ahead and listened to some of that interview - Stern actually did talk with Smith that day, surely as part of a media sweep to promote the NBA during its finals. 

It was basically a 17-minute slobber fest right from the start, when Smith's co-host says to Stern as they bring him on, "What a great time to be you!"  That of course should not be surprising, as Smith works for ESPN television, and his show is on ESPN radio.