NBA 2013-14 Season - Page 211

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The league’s creative paralysis from 2008 through 2013 had a built-in excuse: David Stern stayed five years too long. He only allowed innovation that involved the words “digital” or “international.” He stopped taking chances, stopped thinking outside the box, stopped trying to grow the game domestically. He bristled anytime someone questioned him, held on to petty grudges, bullied people behind the scenes and protected the wrong people.

Stern executed his own kind of blueprint: the Here’s What Happens When You Stay Too Long blueprint. Even his “retirement” lasted an absurdly long time: nearly 18 months in all, as Stern chased and conquered Pete Rozelle’s meaningless “longest tenure by a commissioner” record. He should have exited last June — after an incredible Finals and a bizarrely entertaining draft in Brooklyn — in what could have been something of a victory lap. Instead, he hung around for eight more awkward months. Everyone assumed that Stern would stay as the league’s unofficial international ambassador, feasting on a cushy gig that allowed him to traipse around the world (India, China, Australia — you name it), while pushing the sport abroad. That job never materialized. The dirty secret of Stern’s last 18 months was that, as much as the 30 owners respected him, they also believed it was time for him to leave. And somehow, the smartest guy in the room was the last guy who realized it.

Adam Silver’s first month in charge was distinguished mostly by how hastily Silver distanced himself from his old mentor. Many of Stern’s administrative cronies had already been forced out, and Stern’s surprising absence from All-Star Weekend in New Orleans wasn’t exactly random. A new generation has emerged behind the scenes, with Silver flanked by new assistant commish Mark Tatum (a beloved hire), NBA Entertainment honcho Danny Meiseles, merchandising guru Sal LaRocca, global media head Bill Koenig, and Adam’s right-hand man, Jarad Franzreb, among others. The current group of owners with the most influence — ranging from the old guard (Peter Holt and the Reinsdorfs) to the newer old guard (Stan Kroenke, James Dolan, Wyc Grousbeck, Mark Cuban, Ted Leonsis) to the new guys (Vivek Ranadive, Joe Lacob) — all believe in Silver and have his back, both publicly and privately. They like the guy. That’s not a sentence you heard about David Stern very often.

Truth be told, Stern would have stayed in office even longer if some of those owners hadn’t gently nudged him out. With a monster television deal coming, digital content booming and live events becoming the most valuable media rights property — especially with multiple 24-hour sports networks and local cable superstations that need hundreds of hours of airtime to fill — the league itself has never been stronger. It didn’t just win the last collective bargaining agreement; it destroyed the players and checkmated a fractured union. Do you realize that Brian McCann signed for more guaranteed money this winter than LeBron’s last contract? It’s no accident that, other than maybe Milwaukee, ZERO professional basketball teams are for sale. Seattle has two billionaires willing to double the sticker price for a handful of the 30 teams; nobody is biting. Throw in LeBron and Durant — the best rivalry, potentially, since Bird and Magic — and all the other star-studded contenders, and it’s an amazing time to run a basketball league.

Silver and his owners believe that there’s a real window here — thanks to the concussion crisis in football and the execrable length of baseball games — for the NBA to seize the reins and become America’s new pastime. There’s a reason the new commish mentioned this publicly more than once. His owners want to hear a little less about “growing the sport abroad” and a little more about “building the sport domestically.” Other than the way he treated people and carried himself, that was their single biggest issue with Stern.

And that’s why this tanking bullshit matters. When 36 percent of your league is willfully throwing away the last five weeks of an 82-game season, you’re doing something wrong. Stern stuck his head in the sand. He pretended self-sabotage wasn’t a recurring danger, just like he pretended the broken officiating system was fine … and the always-disappointing All-Star Saturday was fine … and the annoying 2-3-2 Finals format was fine … and the stunning lack of minority league executives at every CBA bargaining table was fine … and the embarrassing Chris Paul trade veto was fine … and The Decision was fine … and the Maloofs destroying basketball in Sacramento to the point that the fans had to revolt was fine … and Clay Bennett extorting Seattle for a new arena and ultimately hijacking the team was fine … and the league owning the New Orleans franchise as it landed the no. 1 overall pick was fine … and starting off Silver’s commissioner transition by hovering over him for an extra eight months was fine.

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