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Just Look Good, Baby

It's long been one of my pet peeves that players are treated differently in the NBA depending on their reputations & the grace with which they move. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "star system", as Mark Cuban does in a recent interview with the Dallas Morning News, but he certainly has a point. If I had Mark's money, I'd really like to do a videotape study of some players like Shaq making that 2 1/2 step "hop" move, & break it down to the point where even the almighty David Stern would be forced to admit that a violation is occurring on a regular basis. But this is just not the way of the NBA. If you look smooth doing it, it's acceptable no matter how many steps you take;if you look clumsy or awkward, it's a traveling call. That's why big men get called so much more often than their sleeker brethren; because they aren't as quick & slick. Unless they're a star, it's a lot easier to call some schmuck making a "less than graceful" move in slow motion than it is to call a quick guard like Jason Williams faking a behind the back pass like he did the other night that was so pretty he fooled his own teamates. No matter that he took 3-4 steps in the process, it looked SWEET! But Drob making a spin move to the basket? Forget about it!

I think it all started with Magic Johnson & his "no look" signature masterpieces that are now a staple of NBA life. People were so busy oohing & ahhing that they failed to notice that Magic often walked in the process. But the league was changing from basketball per se to something more closely resembling entertainment in an effort to bring in more viewers, & consequently more revenue. What we've got today, as has been pointed out by others here, is an audience that demands to be entertained even if it means relegating the rules to a role of secondary importance.

I know I personally enjoy the high wire acts of some players who are proficient at little beyond spectacular dunks. And I've always appreciated the skill invoved in "no-look" passes,"cross over" dribbles,alley-oop passes, & the like. Remember the first time Gary floated one off the glass to a trailing Kemp who slammed it home as the Coliseum (as I believe Key Arena was then called) erupted in astonished appreciation? But in awarding style points for such sideshows,we shouldn't lose sight of the finer points of basketball. Remember that the real purpose of the game is to see which team can score more points than the other, however unglamorous the fashion in which they do so. To me, basketball is more about a perfectly executed give & go than it is the "showtime"displays we have become so accustomed to. Utah may not be the most entertaining team to watch, but if you love basketball, you have to appreciate the skills of wiley veterans like Stockton & Malone. Cuban might be taking things a bit far when he says head of officials, "Ed Rush's interest is not in the integrity of the game or improving officiating," but I know what he means. "I truely didn't believe there was a star system," he continues,"but I was dead wrong". It certainly SEEMS as if some players get away with things others can't. It goes by many names. Some call it giving veterans the benefit of the doubt, others call it earning respect. But few would contest the notion that not all calls are created equally. Put another way, basketball is one of the most subjectively officiated of all sports, & a victim like no other of human frailty & conflicting egos. And the sad thing, as I'm sure Cuban would agree, is that NO ONE, especially David Stern, is really trying to do anything about it.

Stern's job is more akin to that of a CEO, not Commissioner of the NBA, or whatever fancy, but meaningless title you want to give him. His job is to maximize profits, not improve the game. In this light it's easy to see why so much importance is placed on giving "the viewers" what they want to see. Notice I didn't say fans, because fans aren't necessarily the one who pay the bills. Season ticket holders & those responsible for the Nielsen ratings are the only ones Stern is really concerned with. The "fans", those of us who know & appreciate the game can be damned if we're not contributing to the coffers. If those that pay the bills want theater, then that is what they shall have.

Finally I think Cuban is missing the mark when he says,"The #1 priority of Ed Rush is maintaining power. There's no question in my mind that David Stern is not the most powerful man in the game. It's Ed Rush".Rush is even more of a puppet than Stern is. Their #1 priority is NOT maintaining either of their individual power bases, but rather the integrity of the power structure of the league. The referees strive to maintain physical control by managing the players' bodies during the game, & Stern as the head of the thought police strives to control minds by exercising absolute power over anything that is said, thought or done by anyone in any way involved with professional basketball. This, we are told, is for the good of the game. In reality it's for the good of the bottom line. So if entertainment is what most people want, JUST LOOK GOOD, BABY!

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