Shame On You David Stern

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2009-05-25T09:52:00-04:00

Playerpress

183 3174      Game three of the Eastern Conference Finals was a perfect example of corruption in the NBA. Everyone and their mom seems to want to see Kobe and LeBron in the Finals. That's fine by me, it would make for an exiting series, it would also make tens of millions more dollars than if either the Magic or Nuggets ended up there. Unfortunately, Mr. Stern and Stu Jackson, who is the head of officiating, are willing to do almost anything to make that dream matchup happen.       Before I begin my rant, I will admit that the play in question had no bearing on the outcome of the game. That said, when Dwight Howard was whistled for his sixth foul on LeBron James with under a minute to play, it was very clear to me that the refs had been told to, without being too obvious of course, do what they can to help out Cleveland's one man band. This might be the worst call I've ever seen in NBA history.        Evidently, only LeBron James is allowed to sprint up from behind the play and block a shot, not the league's leader in blocked shots (lest we not forget that both of LeBron's come-from-behind blocks at the rim, not just the second one, in game three should have been called goaltending). Howard, all seven feet of him, could not have possibly got a clean block on the Commish's love child, could he? It was not even close to a foul. Howard's body was nowhere near James', so a minor body bump was out of the question. Then you have the block itself. Howard put his hand on the top of the ball, literally as far away from LeBron's hand as humanly possible to still be able to get the block. Their arms were several inches if not a foot apart. Had James known Howard was creeping up like a ninja, he could have contorted his body to draw a foul, but he was clueless of the big man's presence. Nice bail out guys. I'm pretty sure Stevie Wonder was scratching his head at that call.        This makes me sick. I know superstars get phantom fouls, whatever, it's a part of the game and has been going on for years, but now this? What's next? Is Howard going to have to start game four with one personal foul? This call was so bad, I had a friend call me from a bar after the game. I've been to this bar before, and let me tell you, there are only two tv's, one at each end of the bar. These tv's are not from the 21st century either. They have no bigger than a 20” screen and definitely not in high definition. They hang high on the wall so as not to be the focal point of the ambiance, you guessed it, it's not a sports bar. Anyways, even this friend of mine was astounded by the call, and he could barely see it. Oh yeah, and said friend is not a basketball guru of any sort. He gets to watch maybe three or four games a season, total.      They say sh!t rolls down hill. Well let's start at the top, and get this thing rolling. David Stern, you should be ashamed of yourself and your officiating. Yes, what Tim Donaghy was wrong on every level, but you have made yet another mockery of your game. No more “rogue” officials huh? How about all three of them when Mr. James plays? The saddest thing? There will be three different refs for the next game who will carry the same burden.      This has nothing to do with LeBron James, so for all you 'witnesses' out there, don't take this to heart. LeBron creates contact forcing the officials to make a call, he plays the game how it should be played. My issue is blatant missed calls. I don't even have a big issue with the inconsistency that NBA refs can't seem to shake off. I do understand it's a difficult game to officiate due to the size and speed of these amazing athletes, but other sports seem to be able to find some sort of consistency, why not these guys?       Usually, refs will do their best to make sure the sixth foul is at least a decent one. They don't want any player to be sent to the bench on a controversial call, and that's how it should be, bar none. Yeah, I might sound like a colicky baby, but you know what? I'm right. If this kind of blatantly obvious non-fouls continue to be called, this league is no better than the aforementioned Mr. Donaghy. Pull your head out of that dark place Mr. Stern. The world will not end if you don't get a LeBron vs. Kobe finals, I promise. 0.0.0.0

2009-05-25T09:52:00-04:00

shame-on-you-david-stern

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Shame On You David Stern

No NBA, Playoffs, Cavs, Magic, Howard, LeBron, Kobe, fouls

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Shame On You David Stern

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