Stern should be fired for failing to take any action to insulate the NBA when Donaghy’s gambling was first reported. Phil Jackson has displayed more insight into this, by stating that the league should farm out the reffing function to avoid the appearance of complicity, than Stern and his in-house toadies. Plus Stern provoked Donaghy dropping this by adding costs of the NBA “investigating” him to the criminal charges before sentencing; this from the same cost-effective commissioner that copiously bleeds money propping up the worthless WNBA.
Stern has turned a blind eye to the controversies in the last two years’ playoffs such as Miami getting favorable treatment against Dallas and Phoenix’s players being suspended against San Antonio. The game has declined under his watch to the point where NBA players regularly lose in international competition. I’ll be surprised if some owners, such as Mark Cuban, don’t initiate some sort of action to remove him because of how the integrity of the game, and the future value of their franchises, has declined under Stern’s watch. If they don’t, they’re dumber than I thought.
