 We got nuthin' but luv for you Commish, but it's time to retire |
There is absolutely no question that Commissioner David Stern has done wonders for the NBA and the game of basketball. Under his guidance the league has gone from having games on tape-delay to being broadcast live worldwide on TV, streaming internet, and those online boxscores that we all click refresh on a million times. The NBA logo has Jerry West dribbling the ball, but it should really have David Stern sporting his cool glasses on it. |
But David Stern is losing it. The dress code was one of the most ignorant and racially motivated rules I've ever seen in professional sports (along with the No Fun League's (NFL) ban on bandannas), outlawing the Kobe and DWade tights was just bizarre (although they were admittedly goofy-looking!), and implementing a new ball that so many players disliked was just foolish.
GSoM friend Preetom Battacharya of HoopsWorld breaks all of this down with a special focus on the NBA's plan to remove all NBA-related video content of the internet in Fans Lose Another One.
Pree's right on the money about the dress code:
Purely from a marketing standpoint doesn't it seem like the NBA is shooting themselves in the foot by banning players from sporting hoops gear on the sidelines and press conferences? That's essentially free advertising and promotion time. Kids want to wear what they see their NBA heroes wearing. It just doesn't make any cents (pun intended).
And he's definitely on point about the fan created videos which I'm sure everyone on GSoM can agree are a pleasure to watch:
Again, from a marketing standpoint does it make any cents to kill the passion of your most loyal fans? Imagine if we strictly regulated our GSoM Warrior Web Pins and said we only wanted ones that Fantasy Junkie or I created. That wouldn't be much fun for us nor you. This is essentially why Friendster has been a bust in the online social networking space, while MySpace has blown up big time. Friendster tried to strictly control fake profiles, hacks, and community groups, but MySpace was an open and flexible space for its members. Let people have fun.
I know we're all going to miss hype videos like this one that loyal GSoM community member JRichIsAGod posted (majors props to HustleNHeart for the film work):
Commish- you want to get rid of videos like this one? You can't be serious!
Definitely check out our man Pree's whole piece and drop him a line too. It's required reading for Commissioner David Stern, the GSoM community, and all NBA junkies worldwide.