kwo touches on Stern’s biggest dilemma of all. During his press conference he insisted that his league’s security apparatus was as robust, thorough and diligent as could be, yet Donaghy (and possibly others) still slipped by them. This means one of two things. One possibility is that Stern remains in denial and/or CYA mode, If that’s the case, and it comes to light that there is rome for improvement in NBA security after all, Stern will have to explain to the team owners, the players, the media and the Feds why this was never done, and in the end we may well see a palace coup at NBA HQ. The league may yet be able to recover somewhat from this mess, but only over a very long time.
But if Stern’s statement is on the level, and the league really was doing all it could to police itself, the upshot for the league may be far, far worse. That’s because Stern’s statement would then amount to a tacit admission that NBA basketball, by its very nature, is so wide open to corruption that no amount of policing can ever guarantee that the sport is on the up-and-up. That, in turn, would forever destroy any hope of recovery, and put the NBA permanently into WWE territory.
