It's time for David Stern to go.
Twenty-three years at the helm of a league is plenty of time. He has done a lot, grown the financial pie, helped internationalize the game and expanded franchises into just about every viable market that wants a team.
But, he's not the man for the moment anymore. The NBA needs a fresh face in the league office and a new direction.
What the NBA lacks most now is credibility. A certain "gravitas" that convinces sports fans that it is a sport first, and a sport last. Basketball is a great game, and the level of play now seen at the pro level is astonishing.
But the league is a joke. On many levels. And every fan knows it.
If you follow the NBA, you often have to hold your nose through the nonsense. And no, I'm not talking about "conspiracies" or things being "rigged."
The league is just over-everythinged. It's over-stylized, overly image conscious, overly wedded to a music industry that does nothing for it. The television ratings continue to slump and the old excuse that "all sports ratings are going down" doesn't cut it.
Playoff ratings are off 17 percent and 12 percent respectively on ESPN and ABC from last year. Worse yet, the league voluntarily walked away from network coverage in favor of cable and cash.
Sorry, but that brick sits on Stern's desk.
The commissioner is more out of touch than ever with his own league's image among fans and he acts more like a despot than a leader. If nothing else, a new commish would provide instant hope that the old fishy shenanigans under Stern's reign are a thing of the past.
Plus, how bad could a new guy "screw things up?"
What is there to screw up? Are we in some kind of NBA "golden age?"
I'm looking at David Stern's year, and I think it could go down as his worst ever -- not counting the lockout season.
Let's see...
He introduced a crappy toy basketball without any input or a vote among players. The ball had nothing to do with making the product better, it was just a cheap stroke to its sponsor Spalding to help them sell more synthetic pumpkins. We all know how that one worked out. The ball didn't just stink, it was actually damaging the hands of some of the NBA's best point guards.
He watched the risky decision to allow Las Vegas to host his All-Star Game blow up in his face. You can argue all you want about whether the problems in Sin City were overblown by certain media outlets, or if the nature of Vegas was to blame more than just a basketball game. But this much we know. Stuff happened, and it wasn't good.
You know what happened at baseball's All-Star game? Nothing. You know what happened at the NHL All-Star game? Nothing. You know what happened at the NFL's Pro Bowl? Nothing.
My point exactly.
Then you had a moment in the playoffs where a strong and confident commissioner should have shined. Instead, this commissioner created a travesty out of nothing. When Robert Horry laid out Steve Nash to start a minor dust up, Stern had a chance to rule in fairness. Consider all the factors, assess mitigating conditions and use some common sense.
His verdict seemed based more on spite than anything else. Like he was scolding a child who didn't listen. "How many times have I told you not to do that!"
The NBA faces challenges now, and Stern has no good ideas with which to tackle them. Putting church clothes on the players getting off the bus doesn't count as one, either.
Stern has driven the star-privileged and entertainment-driven business model as far as it can go. It's been a helluva ride, but let's face it; it's over.
Steve is a native Washingtonian and has worked in sports talk radio for the last 11 years. He worked at WTEM in 1993 anchoring Team Tickers before he took a full time job with national radio network One-on-One Sports.
A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Steve has worked for WFNZ in Charlotte where his afternoon show was named "Best Radio Show." Steve continues to serve as a sports personality for WLZR in Milwaukee and does fill-in hosting for Fox Sports Radio.
