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Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart
Stern will have no leverage over an NBA fan ever again. This makes the Pistons/Pacers brawl seem insignificant in comparison.
They should stat reviewing calls via camera from now on. Coaches should have challenges like in the NFL. Might make games longer, but it beats cheating.
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Revewng every call would be impossible, not to mention absurd. Individual calls aren't even necessarily the issue, not even with Dongahy. It's the association with and shairng of information with gambling and casinos.
It's also the nature of the information being shared--the relationships between referees and players that result in stricter or looser application of the rules.
As for individual calls, the NBA could do a lot to reduce the potential for individual calls to tip the balance to one team or another by lessening the impact officials have on the game.
The NBA game has become over-regulated, tipped too far in the balance of scorers, too much of a hands-off tea dance. Referees should be re-trained and conditioned to make fewer calls, to make calls only where physical contact gives one player a clear advantage over another, and trained not to make "guess" calls, makeup calls, and vendetta calls. When a referee devleops a relationship with a player, or coach, or owner, or team that demonstrates a compromised objectivity, he should no longer be able to work games involving that team. (Joey Crawford and the Spurs, Joey Crawford and the Mavericks, Joey Crawford and the Warriors, Dick Bavetta and the New York Knicks, Ronnie Garretson and the Detroit Pistons (or whatever team Rasheed Wallace plays for), Seve Javie and Pat Riley, etc, etc, etc...all the well-known. well-documented feuds).
As for Stern, the goose that laid the golden egg is turning around to bite him in his ass now. Stern has been rightly credited with guding the league to heights of popularity and profitability, but this was accomplished by promoting individual stars and by transforming basketball from sport to spectacle. The individual stars the league promoted were invariably scorers, and the league developed a philosophy of favoring offensive players over defensive players, favoring heavily marketed stars over both the average player and the team concept.
It's been a great ride for Stern, but he's sold more sizzle than steak for a long time. One might like to think that the owners who value their investments would realize that a change of commisioner is necessary. But the new breed of owner may also be more enamored of sizzle and spectacle (and huge revenues) than in the purity of the game and the team concept. Professional basketball may be in for some dead bounces.