I think he should of handed the reigns over a long time ago.

And how old is he anyway? I reckon he helped my grandpa build the pyramids in Egypt!

If he does step down (hopefully that is sooner than later), who's going to take over?

Someone like jeff van gundy should be the commissioner. knows the game, knows the players

Seems the FBI is having a long hard look at Dick Bavetta. I always thought he was a 'company man'. Hard not to be when you've been employed by the same company for as long as he's been employed by the NBA.


http://linky.com.au/9b985

hard to prove. But basketball is a game of momentum .. a few calls here and there can change the outcome of games. FTs can change outcomes. Wade going to FT line on phantom calls in 06 finals can change outcomes ... give foul trouble to opposing team best players change outcomes ... LeBron not called for travelling every trip changes outcome ... is it a coincidence that Stern gets his "dream" matchup after the lowest rated Finals last year? How is it that unpopular low teams like t-Wolves trade their best player Garnett to Celtics for next to nothing?? who was GM former Celtic McHale ... then you have former Laker Jerry West trading Gasol to LA for nothing ??? suddenly making both franchises relevant again ...NOT just this year but setup for next few years ... even players question it .. Rasheed made a statement about how NBA wants their golden child in the finals .. when Buck elimanated Allen said something to same effect .. and Heat players were calling Bavetta "Knick" Bavetta in their series ... hmmmm

The NBA is business, not SPORT. Annually around $10 billion I think. Who makes the playoffs, how far they go and how long the series are all impact the bottom line. Period. Player popularity, merchandise sales and media shares are also significant revenue factors. Anyone that believes the NBA can fairly and effectively manage and regulate itself is delusional. The NBA is rigged. It's fake. It's sports entertainment. I can only hope that this gets the attention it deserves and the fraud gets cleaned out of a FANtastic game.

West's got nothing to do with Memphis at the time of the trade. The game is still a sport not an entertainment for sure. It ain't quite as simple as Stern deciding the game though he has a major influence in marketing such as that for Lebron is so much greater than any other player in NBA even other player like KG and Kobe is greater.

With that said, he definitely have favours for a team over another though

how can a business .. worth billions annually be called a "sport" .. its entertainment pure and simple. it's like watching an action movie ..we know good guys are going to win in the end but we still watch !!! ...and yes, we still believe there were weopens of mass destruction in Iraq, and yeah Clinton smoked and didn't inhale ..open your eyes ... watch games .. how can there be different calls for different players ..for star players? everyone admits that ..how about a contrived laker-celtics finals, how about the wade FT clinic of a joke of an nba finals in 06 where Wade had more FT in a quarter then all of Dallas team combined .. how about $100,000 fines for speaking against nba officals , how about Game 6 of Sac-LA in 02 .. too blatant .. robbed one of the finest teams Sacramento a Finals ..cause LA had the biggest "stars" Kobe/Shaq ...yeah NBA loves e flaunting all those celebs at courtside don't they ... see what fans are saying for years in the US !! and yeah .. and 1 offical rigs games for years and nobody notices?? R---ight !!! if you believe its all on the level ..there's a few things I can sell you at the "right" price. Keep living lala land and keep believing that politicans can't be corrupt !!! Want proof .. how has the US team go in international competions when refs aren't giving them "star" treatment

Dude, I know 4 coaching staff in the NBA from 4 different teams, 1 from WNBA(honestly didn't want to brag about it), I personally worked with one of the 6th man during the season for 2 weeks during my work experience and seen one of the players rehab for his injury. I know how hard they really work at start, end and during each season. You've got no idea what the athlete's got to go through physically and mentally. And most of them are so driven for that championship. All Star game is what you call true entertainment.

I don't think they'd work that hard if it aint a fair competition. At the most it'd be referees' bets that controls the game not Stern.

In fact due to the introduction of zone a few years back the game's got lot more boring because teams are lot less offensive.

NBA is the biggest basketball league in the world of course it's easy to get people thinking about different scernarios. From what I've heard, one of the biggest suspicions around NBA is the New York Knick's #1 Draft for Pat Ewing.

i just don't understand how the NBA is not guilty of any crime? and how did the FBI prove his claims? if in fact there is no crime committed, why would they waste time and money investigating something that is of no use to them at all... at the end of it all The Don is gona make alot of money from his book when he gets out of jail, then the NBA is going to be in a real state of emergency... just imagine what else The Don has to say

dude you obviously haven't been following .. this situation very closely.. I'm NOt questioning the players .. in fact some of them flatly stated things favour certin teams .. ask the Kings team, Allen when he was in Milwaukee, Sheed has flatly said it ..

Oh I know how hard athletes work .. I've been an athlete and been around sports all mylife although not pro (especially in martial arts ..where we actually get hit and not look for refs to bail us out !)

But at the same time it is easy enough to manipulate games and that can come from the top .. you really believe that smug arrogant look on Sterns face when questioned ..doesn't have anything to hide ??

AND even if you knew something going ON ..would you turn your back on your massive cash cow .. millions of dollars (if you are a player) or ref ??

Have you been following all the scandals coming out in Baseball ... steroids, American football ..spying on teams etc .. Are YOU so sure your sport is so PURE ?? when there is million of dollars in it for everyone involved?

We all know people kill for money. we all know pollies are corrupt ... you really think all these coincidences are innocent?

Boy, how old are you .. i think you haven't been too exposed to the real world yet
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For years I always thought the NBA was manipulating games, especially in the playoffs, Basketball is one of the most purest sports i have ever played, but when it comes to the NBA, its all about business and end-profits... Do you think the NBA could survive back to back championship series of the Utah Jazz and the Milwaukee Bucks in the championships? It would be a complete nightmare to market that series. Another thought... The refs... These guys are in their 60's, they have all the experience and in great shape for their ages, but obviously at their ages they are not going to be able to react and see every foul or infraction in a game as well as someone in their 30's , yet they come back year after year...why? well If what Donaghy says is true, it would make sense, they cant be "dismissed" because they would have the NBAs dirty little secret in their back pocket and would "sing" to first reporter looking for a big story. After the Crawford situation with Duncan, even after the plane ticket scam with these refs a few yrs back, they still kept their jobs, any other major corporation would have fired them without breaking a sweat, yet these refs are still working...something to think about...

The players earn so much because they're the best in the world (US couldn't win because they couldn't adjust to zone defense and the whole team offense offered by other countries); I've talked to one of the guy back home (who's in the league and no he does not work for the lakers), he told me it's a load of bull, especially about the LA trade; though definitely were the relationships between the KG trade but not LA West wasnt involved.

In terms of officiating the most manipulations by ref would be due to sports bet; NBA don't go around manipulating refs.

In terms of my age sorry that's a bit personal don't you think...I lived in the states most of my life now in Aus, did some work surrounding NBA for 2 years and have followed the game since I was 6 when I first went to a game in chicago when I was visiting before MJ even had a championship. Now I work with pro athletes in Aus that's all I'm gonna disclose.

and its not as if this just came out .. he told the feds this months ago .. it's only when that greedy worm Stern sued him for 1 million for their NBA "investigation" did the latest allegations get to the media. Dumb thing to do .. was getting 1 million worth opening up the can of worms for a billion dollar industry? is this how arrogant and corrupt Stern is that he would sue a guy already charged too .. before that ex company man Dogarty was going hush hush away ..

Also Stern goes on record saying there are strict policies preventing gambling of refs .. then does an about face when found that other refs are known to gamble.. now its only NOT gamble at casinos or whatever the story is .. and why the quiet on Jordan/Barkely gambling problems a few years back?? - shouldn't a player not be allowed to gamble while active? but its ok if its there golden boy right? and its also ok for Kobe to be an alleged rapist when the $$$$$ is coming in and they are media darlings ...so do you really believe a smug ex lawyer Stern that Donaughy is a lone wolf in this or a guy though guilty now has nothing to loose and could face even greater jail time if found guilty of lying about this? It's payback time in he NBA. I hope it cleans up the sport once and for all !! .. sometime the truth hurts but it will set you free !!!

La Boy I don't question your credentials at all .. but i don't want to be so naive about this. Ofcourse you can ask people making a living off the NBA .. but they have vested interest in saying things are all on the up and up ... come on if you're making a cushy living off something worth $$$$$ would you go against the company line? Only those caught with nothing left to loose will do that.. just saying open your eyes to possibilites and just don't dismiss it as rubbish that this can happpen .. epsecailly in big companies ... look at the Enron situation in the US for example.. i mean didn't they shut down the whole power grid to a whole city to make profit

a) we know it is messed up and NBA has been screwing us around... why you think Wilt died wanting nothing to do with the NBA

b) the scandals in other sports mentioned we all knew for far too long... baseball and steroids, how many people knew that about 20 years ago... NFL spying on teams, which pro team doesn't in some way do that these days

we all know something fishy is going on in the NBA, its up to fans to make a stand now... if the fans make enough noise, what you think will happen? Stern is kicked out along with alot of other people, previous coaches and other member of the NBA community become heads and clean it all up finally... if only Wilt was alive to see this, you know he would be laughing in Sterns face

I agree anybody involved in certain sport ain't allowed to bet for that sport but look, I've met Stern (didn't want to even bring it up) have had few words to him before though don't fully know him. Most of you guys just see what the media presents but don't know what these guys are like in real person...

he tries so hard to make more money of course same thing as NBL (but no way near as successful). there's no way I can see him manipulate refs; along with the other guys I've talked to (the guy that told me it was a load of bull was a guy from one of the losing playoff teams from last year). Stern just got awefully lucky this year with KG wanting out and the right GMs.

I had nothing to do with business side in the NBA so not sure how it operates, but I know it's just so hard to turn a bad team around to make good money because of the dollars you're dealing with. That's why teams like Lakers who's in Hollywood always make enough money to get a decent team while teams like Memphis, Sacromento etc. struggles because they don't earn anywhere close while Knicks make enough but is dumb enough to make bad choices!

Though that's what the draft is for but many team'd still struggle with high picks because of money issue. on that matter, there's even talks right now that Stern manipulated this year's so Chicago can get back on top NBA! Since it's one of the most popular team around the globe also with a big fan base.But many is really speaking as a joke...

La La boy , I would like to manipulate your grammar as to understand what the fark you are trying to say .

mate... if the FBI has concluded that The Don is speaking to the truth, then Stern is screwed, he may be a nice guy in person, but that doesn't mean he isn't sneaky... hell, most serial killers you wouldn't expect to be who they really are... at the end of the the day Wilt always said Stern was ruining the NBA and couldn't be trusted, turns out he was right the whole time

my bet is Stern gonna be safe, even if your case is true he'd be way too sneaky to get caught anyway at that time it'd be high authority gets away so the case will never die even you get FBI's involved because people simply wouldn't believe he's innocent.

I have lot of respect for him on what he's done for the sport when you see where NBA was before and now, however I do think it's time for a change purely because he's been there too long.

Wilt was an athlete that played for popularity so he and Stern never got along since he was one of those who introduced differnt rules to inhibit Wilt's game, and he also got to the business side of the game a lot more (eg successful marketing of MJ in his rookie season). Though Wilt was so dominant but he never quite had the same popularity MJ had so Wilt felt the game is turning into more marketing than the actual skill of the athlete (since he always thought he's one of the best ever in the game).

Stern will go down if Congress decide to get involve. Stern is already talking to Congress about the allegations from the NBA side.

Probably the dumbest move the NBA and Stern made was to go after Donaghy for $1 million. Like the NBA requires 1 million to survive. What he has done is open the book for Donaghy's lawyer to subpoena every shard of information about refs, every single piece of paper, email, transcript on file to defend Donaghy. His lawyer may not stop Donaghy from going to prison, but he will change the landscape of the NBA as we now know it (and for the better).

Stern has done a fair job over his 20+ years at the helm of the NBA, but the last few years I feel he has failed. There has been issues which have risen but Stern fails to provide answers for. To this day he's never satisfied the curiosity of the general fan in relation to the Game 6 in 2002 between the Lakers and Kings. Game 6 in the ECF between the Bucks and 76ers in 2001 is also tainted. The 3 games Donaghy named in 2005 are tainted. The problem is Stern has never come out and explained to the public. He's got the majority of fans questioning the sport now and have doubts over the legitimacy of it all. He's done nothing to dispel these stories or rumors and as Commissioner I believe it is his job.

How does Bavetta who the FBI are looking at still get a Finals game, along with Joey Crawford who admitted to making a critical blunder in Game 4 of the Lakers and Spurs series still get to ref in the biggest game of the series??? Both are 'company men'...

good points TR

As for Wilt, he was went against Stern because he changed the rules to make money and ruined the game basically, which is why I don't take the NBA as a serious league anymore. Has nothing to do with MJ becoming the big time fan favorite, thats just rubbish. Wilt went against Stern when he wasn't playing, and when asked to come back and play when he was in his 50s or whatever it was, said no because he didn't agree with where the game was heading. And the game did turn into marketing more than skill, try tell me NBA is not based around marketing and skill and your a fool. Not to mention MJ didn't become a marketing tool for the NBA till Nike signed him up, even then the NBA went against MJ many times because of the shoes he wore alone. So your argument against Wilt campaigning against Stern is really pointless.