Jun 13, 2012, 12:46 am
I totally agree that Stern is being a bit of a puppet of owners like Cuban but I also think that he is on a power trip to exert his grip over the game of basketball. I mean honestly, the roster that the US is likely to take to London isn't too far away from being a U23 roster. I'm fine with the younger players being more enthusiastic about wearing the red, white and blue but do we really need a definitive policy and force this requirement on other countries? I mean, say what you will about Kobe. The guy is 33 years old, has won absolutely everything and yet he still wants to play for his country. That is pretty amazing and why should players like Kobe be prevented from making a similar choice in the future?
Stern says he wants to follow the football model but I have no doubt in my mind that what he is really after is the copying the baseball model. For those of you who do not follow baseball here is what you need to know. The MLB season runs April-October each year and is led by another tyrant commissioner named Bud Selig. Baseball has historically been an Olympic sport but because this overlapped with the 162 game season as it would clearly be statistically detrimental for teams to lose their star players for two lousy weeks once every four years, Selig forbid MLB players from participating in the Olympics. There was also a world championship played in the summer but like the Olympics it was played with amateurs.
Then one day in 2006 the MLB decided to host its own "Baseball World Classic" in March prior to the start of the season (which has led to fitness issues). Now, you don't need to play in the MLB to play in the World Classic but it is the only international event whereby MLB players can participate and guess who gets the revenue? Yep, the MLB. Additionally, as the number of baseball playing nations is somewhat limited, the MLB implemented extremely relaxed requirements as to what was necessary to play for a particular country (e.g. if you have an Italian surname you can play for Italy, if you're Jewish you can play for Israel).
Since implementing the World Baseball Classic every four years, the MLB has convinced the IBAF (FIBA equivalent) to cancel baseball at the Olympics and the Baseball world championship. This is now the ONLY major international baseball tournament and it all flows through the MLB.
In my opinion Stern would absolutely love a basketball championship done in the same dramatic circus style that is the NBA. The owners would then be covered for risking their investment as the revenue would flow back into the NBA and Stern would once again flex his muscle in the face of FIBA. FIBA really needs to stop being a bunch of cowards and stand up to this dude.
Stern says he wants to follow the football model but I have no doubt in my mind that what he is really after is the copying the baseball model. For those of you who do not follow baseball here is what you need to know. The MLB season runs April-October each year and is led by another tyrant commissioner named Bud Selig. Baseball has historically been an Olympic sport but because this overlapped with the 162 game season as it would clearly be statistically detrimental for teams to lose their star players for two lousy weeks once every four years, Selig forbid MLB players from participating in the Olympics. There was also a world championship played in the summer but like the Olympics it was played with amateurs.
Then one day in 2006 the MLB decided to host its own "Baseball World Classic" in March prior to the start of the season (which has led to fitness issues). Now, you don't need to play in the MLB to play in the World Classic but it is the only international event whereby MLB players can participate and guess who gets the revenue? Yep, the MLB. Additionally, as the number of baseball playing nations is somewhat limited, the MLB implemented extremely relaxed requirements as to what was necessary to play for a particular country (e.g. if you have an Italian surname you can play for Italy, if you're Jewish you can play for Israel).
Since implementing the World Baseball Classic every four years, the MLB has convinced the IBAF (FIBA equivalent) to cancel baseball at the Olympics and the Baseball world championship. This is now the ONLY major international baseball tournament and it all flows through the MLB.
In my opinion Stern would absolutely love a basketball championship done in the same dramatic circus style that is the NBA. The owners would then be covered for risking their investment as the revenue would flow back into the NBA and Stern would once again flex his muscle in the face of FIBA. FIBA really needs to stop being a bunch of cowards and stand up to this dude.