The NBA's Best of the Offseason
David Stern has plenty of reason to celebrate
Here are six things that David Stern can be thankful for:
1) Michael Vick is not in the NBA - The Falcons quarterback, whether he is innocent or guilty, has been mired in accusations of hideous animal cruelty, and the evidence seems to be overwhelming against him. The NBA does have many rapists (including Ruben Patterson) on the rosters, but no public relations disasters like Vick's. For the record, instead of jail time, Vick should be thrown into a pit and ripped to shreds by some of these dogs that he tortured. If any of these allegations are true, then he deserves to be thrown in solitary confinement and forgotten about for a long time. Now, back to basketball.
2) Greg Oden and Kevin Durant - This has been the best NBA draft in a long time and these two guys are the cream of the crop. While Durant has looked somewhat mediocre in the summer leagues so far, he will find his way and put up solid numbers in his first year. Even if these two uber-stars don't morph into NBA legends, Stern will still have generated a significant amount of interest in his league through them. Mission accomplished if you're the commish.
3) The age limit - You have to hand it to Stern, the age limit has already had a tremendous affect on the professional league by sending superstar high school players through the NCAA spotlights for a year. It has made the draft better already and will increase fan interest as more Oden and Durant's filter through the college system. Even though Stern has made some questionable judgements over his long tenure, this one has churned out an immediate success story.
4) Kobe Bryant - Who would be paying attention to the NBA right now if it weren't for this guy? Bryant has to be doing all of this on purpose. He's flip-flopping his viewpoint every couple of hours and doing so publicly - so everyone knows that he's confused. Bryant is bilingual and he is articulate. He can't be this stupid. There has to be some sort of financial plan behind this whole thing. How he would improve his financial situation by coming off crazy, I don't know. But he's too smart for this meathead behavior.
5) The San Antonio Spurs - Even though Stern hasn't done enough to promote this immaculate team, he is still fortunate that they are around to show everyone how the game is supposed to be played and how to act like professionals on the court. Tim Duncan is the primary cog in that winning machine, and it will be a sad day when either injury or old age takes him down.
6) The lottery draft system - Don't change a thing. Forget all of the owners that said it was unfair when they got screwed out of high draft picks. Just infuriate them and their fans more. That's the way to go. The teams that have the best chance of getting the higher picks always overestimate their chances, and it's aggravating. The Celtics had a 33% chance to get Tim Duncan and Boston fans were going nuts waiting for Duncan to arrive. And the teams that tank it at the end of the season aren't getting the ultimate reward (the guaranteed top pick) either, which will keep things somewhat more honest at least.
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