OT: "David Stern is a huge . . . "

[Dan H]

http://withleather.com/post.phtml?pk=5379

http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/TheSportingBlog/144067

LOL.

I wonder if some of the guys who play in the Olympics will develop phantom injuries . . .

 

[devilalum]

Stern: Now, as you can see above, Portland is on the other side of the planet. It's unreal how long it takes players to get out there. It's so far away that when it's 2:00 p.m. in your time zone, it's five years ago in theirs. Seriously: they haven't even seen the last episode of The Sopranos yet.

:rofl:

 

[elindholm]

Wow, is that interview clip for real? That's the most arrogant I've heard Stern yet. How can he be so smug about something so factually incorrect? And has he flown "overseas" recently? It's a much bigger pain in the ass than going across the country.

I think he's gone by summer 2011. This can't go on.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

He makes me want to vote to reinstate public executions.

 

[mojorizen7]

Who exactly can "force out" the Commish? I don't know how that works. Honestly i thought that Stern would resign following the Referee scandal, I figured it was gonna get blown wide-open with multiple whistle-blowing going on(I still don't believe it was an isolated incident).......but the NBA has managed to bury it nicely.

 

[capologist]

All-Star game in Basra! Whoo-hoo!

 

[ambchang_]

Stern has been known as an arrogrant prick for the last 20 years. He is not exactly a nice person to be around.

What he did though he that he took the NBA to new heights. Since taking over in 1984, the NBA grew into a $2billion/yr empire, ansecuring lucratic TV deals, marketed superstars for incredible merchandise sales, and expanded the league from 23 to 30 teams (don't know if this is good or bad).

He also allowed the game to reach overseas, both expanding the reach of the market, but also the supply of talent overseas.

While he is largely hated for his reputation as a dictator, his contribution to the league is undeniable.

 

[carrrnuttt]

While he is largely hated for his reputation as a dictator, Michael Jordan's contribution to the league is undeniable.

Fixed.

If you're going to talk about how good the rider is, make sure you give credit to the horse he rode in on.

 

[ambchang_]

Fixed.

If you're going to talk about how good the rider is, make sure you give credit to the horse he rode in on.

The league had Magic and Bird back then, but they were still on the brink of bankruptcy.

Dr. J was as big a star as Jordan was back in the day, but the NBA couldn't capitalize on it because of the strained relationships between ownership and union, drug problems, and terrible marketing. Stern changed all of that, he instituted the lottery, salary caps, then later the rookie pay scale and the luxury tax, all measures to help teams maintain their financial situations.

Jordan was a great player, but he benefitted from NBA's growth more than any other player. He didn't make all nba teams worth 5x more. He was earning about $3M a year in the late 80s, but in his last couple of years with the Bulls, he was pulling $33 and $36 M a year.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

ambchang would defend hitler if we were badmouthing him.

ANY competent commissioner could have done what he did and more. Thank jordan, gatorade and nike before you thank stern.

 

[ambchang_]

ambchang would defend hitler if we were badmouthing him.

ANY competent commissioner could have done what he did and more. Thank jordan, gatorade and nike before you thank stern.

This is a classic case of putting the cart before the horse.

Gatorade benefitted from the rise of Jordan's stardom by investing in a partnership with Jordan AFTER the league was accessible to the masses.

Nike invested in Jordan when he was a rookie, banking on him making it in the NBA. If people remember, Jordan was picked 3rd in the draft behind Hakeem (then known as Akeem) and Bowie, he was the third wheel behind James Worthy and Sam Perkins at Carolina. Sure he was a heralded newcomer, but he was no where close to a sure thing like Shaq was when he came in, or even Oden last year or Ewing in 86. Nike didn't marketed the NBA, Jordan marketed them, and the NBA marketed Jordan because of the his unquestionable charisma and being one of the best talent and greatest player the league has ever seen.

If it wasn't for Jordan, there would have been another mega-star to market. Between 84 and 90, Jordan was a popular figure, but was nowhere close to the stardom he achieved after winning championships. He was viewed as a strong individual talent who couldn't play team ball (see Kobe Bryant).

The lack of knowledge of NBA history here just astounds me sometimes. And the attempts to rewrite basketball history simply to badmouth a commissioner who didn't bend over to benefit your favourite team is appalling.

BTW, Stern is an arrogrant prick, that is pretty much common knowledge, I am surprised this is some sort of news item.

 

[Bufalay]

ambchang would defend hitler if we were badmouthing him.

ambchang is a Spurs fan and Stern is a member of that team. It's pretty simple.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

i really do not like stern in the least - especially with the smugness he is dealing with seattle

however, it's hard to deny how he has grown the league and the impact that it's made

back in 1983 the finals weren't even broadcast live - he worked the deals to get the league on TV, get them press coverage and devised the marketing strategy to push individuals instead of the teams - if jordan, bird & magic all played together in the 70s they wouldn't of been able to have the impact they had in the 80s & 90s

with that said, i think the league could benefit from a fresh perspective

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

This is a classic case of putting the cart before the horse.

Gatorade benefitted from the rise of Jordan's stardom by investing in a partnership with Jordan AFTER the league was accessible to the masses.

Nike invested in Jordan when he was a rookie, banking on him making it in the NBA. If people remember, Jordan was picked 3rd in the draft behind Hakeem (then known as Akeem) and Bowie, he was the third wheel behind James Worthy and Sam Perkins at Carolina. Sure he was a heralded newcomer, but he was no where close to a sure thing like Shaq was when he came in, or even Oden last year or Ewing in 86. Nike didn't marketed the NBA, Jordan marketed them, and the NBA marketed Jordan because of the his unquestionable charisma and being one of the best talent and greatest player the league has ever seen.

If it wasn't for Jordan, there would have been another mega-star to market. Between 84 and 90, Jordan was a popular figure, but was nowhere close to the stardom he achieved after winning championships. He was viewed as a strong individual talent who couldn't play team ball (see Kobe Bryant).

The lack of knowledge of NBA history here just astounds me sometimes. And the attempts to rewrite basketball history simply to badmouth a commissioner who didn't bend over to benefit your favourite team is appalling.

BTW, Stern is an arrogrant prick, that is pretty much common knowledge, I am surprised this is some sort of news item.

False. Re-read what I wrote. Stern made all the obvious moves for Nike/etc to make the game popular.

Merlin didn't go around acting like a smug prick after telling Arthur to pull the sword from the stone.

 

[Phade]

big shocker chang causing drama.. dude obviously needs attention like a little 3 year old girl..

 

[MigratingOsprey]

the moves weren't so obvious at the time - it's not like corporations were falling overthemselves to attach their product to professional basketball

 

[TucsonDevil]

I can't believe Stern used the phrase, "you sound like such an American"!

...thumb, thumb, thumb, "yeah is this on? Testing, one.. two.. three. You can here me? Ok," clears throat, "Uhm Stern - YOU ARE AN AMERICAN. YOU JACKASS!"

One more thing, can people quit quoting ambchang... I thought I had effectively blocked him already.

 

[devilalum]

I can't believe Stern used the phrase, "you sound like such an American"!

...thumb, thumb, thumb, "yeah is this on? Testing, one.. two.. three. You can here me? Ok," clears throat, "Uhm Stern - YOU ARE AN AMERICAN. YOU JACKASS!"

One more thing, can people quit quoting ambchang... I thought I had effectively blocked him already.

"Quotes"

Yeah, that's the weak link.

 

[shazaam6]

I can't believe Stern used the phrase, "you sound like such an American"!

...thumb, thumb, thumb, "yeah is this on? Testing, one.. two.. three. You can here me? Ok," clears throat, "Uhm Stern - YOU ARE AN AMERICAN. YOU JACKASS!"

The way he said that he was insulting all Americans. Why? If he doesn't like Americans now, I don't think he should be allowed to remain the NBA commissioner and insult us from his perch.

 

[ambchang_]

ambchang is a Spurs fan and Stern is a member of that team. It's pretty simple.

It all makes sense, how the Spurs were blamed for low ratings and is killing the NBA finals, and yet the NBA LOVES the Spurs. It just makes perfect sense.

Stern also went on record to say that his dream finals series is the Lakers vs. the Lakers. You don’t see the Spurs in any of them.

Besides, what did Stern do to benefit the Spurs? Take away hand checking to minimize the effects of defensive teams (what Spurs are known for)?

False. Re-read what I wrote. Stern made all the obvious moves for Nike/etc to make the game popular.

Merlin didn't go around acting like a smug prick after telling Arthur to pull the sword from the stone.

What was so obvious with what he did? Larry O’Brien didn’t do the obvious moves with Dr. J back in the day and yet got a trophy named after him.

I am not sure what is more comical, people not knowing the recent history of the NBA, or the failure to grasp simple business concept. Michael Jordan is a product that the NBA markets, and great products does not sell without great leadership. Beta was the better video format, but the marketing was poor, HD-DVD and Blue-Ray were at the minimum equals, yet one clearly wins out. Dell was hardly known as the best computers (definitely not better than IBMs), and yet IBM’s PC market lost money year after year, IBM had re-recordable CDs in the late 80s, yet you don’t know anything about it, iPods are not the best nor the first mp3 player, and yet it dominated the market, you know why the other companies with better products don’t sell?

big shocker chang causing drama.. dude obviously needs attention like a little 3 year old girl..

Stating the truth = drama.
Not agreeing with everything you said = drama.

With that, I derived:
Stating the truth = not agreeing with everything you said …. Which really shouldn’t come as a surprise.

 

[elindholm]

Stern also went on record to say that his dream finals series is the Lakers vs. the Lakers.

Wow, that sounds awfully hard to pull off. But if anyone can engineer it, Stern can.

 

[btimsah]

Maybe Stern was talking about California to Paris or something? You know.. going west, NOT east? Otherwise I have no idea the distances, but just common sensically (new word!) I'd say he's wrong.

he's an ass. To be sure.