Fans Call Foul on the NBA
The National Basketball Association has a credibility problem. At some point in the last twenty years, the NBA morphed into a launching pad for young athletes building a following through ESPN highlights, rather than a serious professional sport played according to established rules. And recently, former longtime NBA employee Tim Donaghy submitted statements under oath indicating that two NBA officials conspired to fix a playoff game in 2002.
NBA Commissioner David Stern has blithely suggested that Donaghy would say anything to stay out of jail. That’s true. Donaghy would probably even be willing to spill the beans and tell everything he knows about dirty backroom deals in order to avoid prison. Lying under oath about this conspiracy will expose Donaghy to perjury charges. That would result in more jail time, not less. Donaghy is motivated to come clean.
Jose Canseco was intensely criticized for naming names in Juiced, his book about the Major League Baseball steroid scandal of the 1990s. Everyone called Canseco a liar. It turns out that virtually every one of the players he identified has now admitted to using steroids or human growth hormones.
Even if Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals wasn’t fixed, NBA officiating tends to alternate between horrendous and baffling, depending on the game. According to the rules, players must keep one foot planted when they have the basketball and are not dribbling. In the NBA, superstars tuck the ball under one elbow and take three extra steps on the way to the hoop. They pivot with the right foot when they can’t get a good shot off after four pivots with the left foot. And spot up shooters usually take a two foot hop before launching a three pointer. Traveling is now subjective in the NBA, like all the other rules. What ever happened to the game of basketball?
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