NBA's Lack of Credibility Started with Jordan, Continues with "Star Treatment"
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by Notthatgood4
Were the 1998 NBA Finals fixed? The NBA's popularity was at its summit due to Michael Jordan's transcendent image and this was supposedly MJ's last hurrah. What could be better for the league than to have its most appealing player leave the scene victorious?
The problem with the NBA is that these sorts of claims are plentiful. As soon as the league started calling the games based upon who the player was, its credibility became almost null. Michael Jordan's entire legacy was greatly aided by his ability to play above the rules. While I am too young to have watched most of his games live, in a stunningly high percentage of the highlights of Jordan he either commits a violation or a completely bogus call is whistled on the opposition to make it an and one. He jumps into static players and fouls are called on the defense, he takes too many steps, he leaves his feet and lands before getting his shot up, he palms the ball, he pushes off, the list goes on and on.
Why did the league led by Commissioner David Stern permit this to happen? The reason in my book is because they falsely believed the best way to run a league is to capitalize on star power. With the help of Nike, Michael Jordan became bigger than the game of basketball. There became an implicit code that Jordan was to be allowed to play by his own rules. The league created a precedence of subjective officiating equaled only by judged sports saturated in corruption.
With the allegations of Tim Donaghy allegedly getting away with manipulating results, this topic is being explored by the league. David Stern claims that the league protects the integrity of the game to the best of their ability; however, the preferential treatment stars like Dwyane Wade still get to this day says otherwise.
So many of the calls are so blatantly wrong that you don't know whether the official is trying to influence the outcome of the game or is merely incompetent.
This brings me back to my original question: Were the 1998 NBA Finals Fixed?
Michael Jordan gets away with a blatant push off against Byron Russell. There is no doubt the officials saw this violation was committed; however, they chose to simply ignore its occurence. Any unbiased official could see that Jordan extended his arm to guide his opponent away from him, an action which is clearly against the rules. How could three of the supposedly top officials in the league miss such an obvious foul? There must have been a league directive to laxly enforce the rules against Jordan in order to maximize the potential for a storybook ending.
While these tactics seemed to have worked at the time as a result of extremely high television ratings and merchandise sales, they have no backfired.
How can a league which has so blatantly disregarded the integrity of the game cry foul when an individual chooses to do the same on his own account? The league comes across as the multi-billionaire casino prosecuting the guy cheating on the nickel slots to the full extent of the law. The message is not one about fairness, but rather one about corporate obedience.
It is no wonder that the superior NBA players have lost so often in international competition. The players find out quickly that the game is not so easy when played on a level playing field. Take for instance Dwyane Wade's transgression from unstoppable force in the NBA Finals to just another player in the 2006 FIBA World Championships.
Perhaps the accusations against Tim Doneghy are the best thing to happen to the league in years. Maybe just maybe the league will take a look in the mirror and see where it went wrong.
If the NBA is to maintain a shred of credibility among the public, a new regime needs to come in and put an end to these kinds of actions. Quite frankly, if Stern continues to lead the charge, it screams hypocrisy.
