Make My Day - With the first round of the NBA Playoffs already underway, commissioner David Stern has become one of if not the most busiest man in the league for dishing out fines and suspensions for those in need. Take Kevin Garnett for example who was issues a 1-game suspension earlier this week for throwing an elbow that connected to the face of Miami's Quinton Richardson after a sideline scuffle between the Heat and Celtics. And then there's the $35,000 fine that Lakers head coach Phil Jackson received for his comments towards how the refs were treating Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant like a superstar, sending him to the foul-line every other trip down the court. Stern has had his hands full as of late by trying to defend his officials, whether it means dishing out fines or suspensions to whoever speaks out and criticizes their officiating, player or coach.
Stern, who's been atop the throne as the commissioner for 26-years now says he wishes he done this 20-years ago when Pat Riley and Phil Jackson first started the trend of questioning calls on behalf of the refs. Two decades later, it looks like he's is finally ready to take charge. A message was sent out to the entire league by David Stern himself who tried giving his best Clint Eastwood impression by saying, "If someone wants to try me in the rest of these playoffs, make my day." Stern's 5-foot nothing physique might not scare anyone off, but his commitment to fine you $30,000 big ones might do the trick. And if that doesn't, threatening to suspend you for a game when everything including a championship is at stake, surely will.
Head coach of the defending Eastern Conference champions Orlando Magic - Stan Van Gundy recently made the news by criticizing not the officiating of the NBA, but rather the length of the playoffs. Stan Van commented that the first round takes longer than three weeks and that there's too many off days in between games. Although his comments aren't expected to lead to a fine, they could however, lead to a quicker, more fast pasted playoffs, right? Wrong. Whether or not the fans, players and coaches agree with the many days off in between games, the league brings in more money by stretching out the length of each series. After all, they did change the playoffs from a best of five to the best of seven for a reason... The Benjamin$.
One thing the NBA is planning to change however, is the voting process for who makes it into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Supposedly the league is trying to become more "transparent" and "fan friendly" by letting fans be the ones who make the decision and vote for whoever they feel is most deserving of a spot with the game's all-time greats. & If you ask me, aside from letting fans get complete control of who gets to play and make it onto the All-Star team considering it's a popularity contest, this is one of Stern's worse decisions yet.
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