In having a conversation with a friend about the NBA of the recent past I realize something, David stern gets a lot of credit for being lucky not smart. Hear me out.
David Stern is the commisioner of the league in a time perioed where Doctor J, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkely, Micheal Jordan, Reggie Miller, Tim Hardaway, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dennis Rodman, Chris Mullins, Detlef Shrempf, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O'neal, Kobe Bryant(I may not like him, but I will respect his work ethic.), Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnet, Gary Payton, Karl Malone, John Stockton I mean do you see a pattern here? Save Doc the beginning of that list is the damn dream team(minus Patrick Ewing who I did not mean to omit but hell once you add his name it becomes even worse). How can you NOT be successful with players of that caliber out on the world stage?
Maybe your favorite player isn't up there(I have more in mind some tired guy, this dude who collected rifles I think, hyper aggressive man, some angry rocket, somebodies granny but seriously it's like the list that never ends the 80's and 90's were basketball gold) which is why they make a comments section, but Stern had all these great players. Then he was around for the video game revolution, I remember when Lakers vs Celtics dropped, and NBA JAM that was so much exposure. And he had balance, High flyers, shooters, imposing low post presences. Now it's like everybody wants to shoot the ball.
Even with the "we hate Lebron" vibe of the last two years hate burns out too quick, remember the old Heat vs Knicks rivalry after Alonzo went to Miami, how the Georgetown duo may have been fellow Alumns but on the court there was no love at all. The Hand Check finals(did a single game in that series between Hou and NYC break 100 points?), how many different versions of "The DUNK" were there before VC in the Olympics(that now owns the title just for pure nastiness but John Starks over Jordan, Grant and Pippen used to get my vote)? the Reggie Miller explosion in the playoffs vs the Knicks in MSG(granted Bird did him dirty like that first but still that was in Boston, in Larry's house).
As I see interviews with Stern he always seems so happy and so "knowing" but as I think more about it, ANYBODY could have run the league from the late 80's til the mid 2000's you had the talent. So many teams had heart, they may not have had rings but who didn't used to feel sorry for Craig Ehlo every time it was time ticking down in the fourth quarter? I used to swear Jordan just looked for him, who couldn't wait to see if Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp would melt down in the Semi's even though they would dominate for most of the season? Could Golden State turn their high scoring on the court show into a deep playoff run?
This is not to say there is no talent now, I love Lebron, and Kevin Durant looks like the real deal. I wish I knew what in the hell my sixers were trying to do, and the Grizzlies looked to be on the right path a few years ago I think they just got out of their inside out game lats year. Denver and Phoenix still don't play defense. Chris Paul and Blake MIGHT be able to do something on the Clippers(hey they made it two rounds into the playoffs). As for the Spurs they are getting old but Tim Duncan has one hell of a resume and of course there are new guys coming in. Maybe it's just me getting near 40 but I really think back to "my good ol days" of basketball when I was in highschool and all I can say is "seriously you think it took a lot of work to just sit down and watch the games and enjoy the product?" Yes I will admit he was a wise man early in the video game "genesis" when we started to get really deep into the 4 button universe(before bumper buttons and secondary joysticks) so on the BUSINESS side he was smart, but then he tried to go all corporate it pretty much turned me off.
Casual fans don't keep a league going, think of football. The Black Hole, the Jail at the Vet, the Hogs. Rarely are those corporate guys those are guys who live and breathe for their team:blue collar to middle class, die hard unless the ownership and management just suck they are there good and bad. Yes it is nice to be in ads, but you are going to be in ads anyway as long as the talent is good. Especially since Basketball and Baseball are a few of the sports where you actually see the athletes faces while they are playing. Football you see the logo, Hockey it's all about the Goalie mask.
Another benefit is that if it's an adrenaline score that "posterized" moment is always epic, whether it's the Tarzan scream on a dunk or the hand lingering on a 3 pointer, you can see the players emotion. Sometimes that is part of the momentum shift, if your team is playing their hearts out you feed on it and it then feeds them. As crazy as it seems basketball is the one sport where in once sequence you could have every possible stat happen, a steal, a block, a rebound, a cross court pass and a game tying slam dunk or a lead changing 3 pointer. and the whole team can be involved(or just one guy) but it can turn into this fluid symphony out of nowhere and take your breath away.
I'm not saying Stern's job was easy, I am just saying that if you look back at the tools he had to work with it was more just sitting back and letting the tools ride their grooves then it was shaping a masterpiece from scratch.
Ya know, I was about to say nahhhh; but you're probably right. It would have been kinda hard for George W Bush to mess that up.
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