Silly as this sounds, NBA commissioner David Stern might really believe he's in charge of his league.
Maybe Stern thinks he has a handle on payrolls, what with that official sounding Salary Cap, but name another U.S. sport where the average salary is $5.2 million and where players as irrelevant as Erick Dampier and Austin Croshere can earn $16 million this season for the Dallas Mavericks.
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| Spank the baby, Mr. Commish. Don't be that parent that can't control your kids. (Getty Images) |
Stern has a big salary and crisp suits and officious-looking henchmen, but he has never drawn a line in the sand that NBA players couldn't step or spit on.
Now's his chance. Two chances, actually. Stern has made two enormous changes for the 2006-07 season, and for the sake of his league -- for the power of the commissioner's office -- he cannot back down.
The unpopular new basketball stays, in other words. And so does the crackdown on players who abuse officials.
Those are the two dominant themes of this NBA preseason, both pitting players against the commissioner. The players are acting furious, but that's what a baby does when you take away his ba-ba. He pitches a fit and threatens to go sleep in the family Escalade.
Spank the baby, Stern.
The NBA has grown amazingly under your leadership, but it has also grown out of control -- the salaries are too high, the players too unhinged, the coaches too impotent. Here is a chance to show discipline and leadership through tough love. Stand up to the players now, or drop the pretenses and move out of the master bedroom. Back down, and you're not in charge of this league. You're not the father figure. You're the nanny, and the players are waiting to wrap you in duct tape.
Spalding spent seven years researching, designing and producing the micro-fiber composite basketball that has been introduced to the NBA this preseason. The new ball, or something similar to it, is used overseas and in the NBDL. It was tested and approved by former NBA greats Reggie Miller, Steve Kerr and Mark Jackson, whose games depended on feel. The ball was used in the 2006 All-Star Game without incident. It was used in 2006 NBA summer leagues without incident.
Before preseason camps began, Spalding even sent each NBA player a new ball with his name imprinted on it to ease the transition. The composite ball is more costly than the old leather ball, at roughly $120 each, so of course Shaquille O'Neal dismissed it as "one of those cheap balls you buy at a toy store."
Stern needs to remind Shaq that all he does is dunk and miss free throws, and that a Faberge Egg wouldn't change that. Instead, Stern already has indicated that he is not married to the new ball, only engaged. That he could change his mind, go back to the old ball. Let the babies get their ba-ba, in other words.
Come on, Stern. This isn't about a ball. It's about power. You have it. Use it.
