Geez, what the eff is wrong with NBA fans? I don't know if it is the mainstream press, the fans, or the bloggers, but enough already!
First it was the uproar over the Amare suspension. Now there is a call for the NBA to "fix" the draft lottery system. Check out today's Debriefing by The Mighty MJD over at the Fanhouse (a great read every morning, make sure to check it out). He points out that there is a call to change the current lottery system:
"A lot of people advocate a system that gives all 14 teams in the lottery, from the 22-60 Grizzlies to the 40-42 Clippers, an equal shot (about 7.14%) at the #1 overall pick."
Obviously, that's anecdotic support, but MJD is right. There are a lot of people unhappy about way the draft lottery turned out.
The point of the draft lottery is so teams don't tank down the stretch. This isn't much of a problem in the NFL (though it does happen) because there are only 16 games, so it takes a while for a team to get mathematically eliminated from contention. In the meanwhile, there is always one or two teams that make it clear from the beginning of the season that they suck - see last year's Raiders.
In the NBA, the season is much longer. Now, despite what people claim, I don't see how Memphis tanked. They sucked from the get-go. As soon as Pau Gasol went down for 2-3 months (immediately after the World Games), I laid big bucks on them falling under the Vegas "wins for the season" line of 31.5. And they sure did. They played hard all year long - that first game was a triple OT game against the Knicks. They just straight up sucked. Look at their squad minus Gasol... it's Chucky Atkins and Damon Stoudemire at the point. Rudy Gay was starting. Hakim Warrick, too. At one point this season I had Tarence Kinsey on my fantasy team, because he was getting big minutes. Mike Miller is the only other decent player on that team besides Gasol, and Miller is a 6th man on a good team. The rest of these guys are not good enough to label this team "tanking".
But the Celtics and Bucks? Guilty. Resting Paul Pierce and Andrew Bogut with "injuries"? Actually, the Celtics are the guiltiest of all - at least the Bucks threw out Mo Williams and Michael Redd after injuries that could (and should have) kept them out longer. What the Celtics did was disgracefully to the league. But because their biggest voice is the most influential sportswriter out there - Bill Simmons - no one in the press or blogosphere really gives them the proper attack for openly tanking.
Well, guess what? Everyone sure did have a big laugh at the Celtics expense on Tuesday. You know why? Because the Celtics deserve it, for openly tanking the season in a most disgraceful way. Spare me the articles about your "20 years of tragedy". Oddly, the Celtics have appeared in a Eastern Conference Final more recently than the Knicks... someone from Cleveland or Clipperland or Atlanta explain to Boston Celtics fans what real "tragedy" for a fanbase is. It's years and years of sucking, not just a few seasons.
At best the Celtics recent struggles compares most to the 76ers - one superstar's career mostly wasted (Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce) due to bad management, and only a trip to the Finals to show for it. Eventually the team was so mismanaged that they became at best 8th seed contenders, then finally a lottery-bound team that needed to cut ties with it's star player. Philly did it, Boston didn't. Then Philly showed some class, and played out the season, even passing six other teams to end up 0.7% chance of a top spot. They didn't need those extra two to three wins that allowed them to pass the Knicks, Bobcats, Kings, Hawks, and Trail Blazers, among others. But they won anyway, even when they didn't have anything to play for. It'll pay off for them next season, because winning breeds winning.
So, if a team wants to tank in the future for a higher % chance of winning the draft lottery (even though it's a lottery), they can. It won't change that this is still the best system the NBA has to prevent tanking. You didn't see the Magic tank to get into the lottery instead of the playoffs - that's because they knew it really wasn't worth it. You didn't see teams like Philly tank the season, though they could have - they were certainly a worse team than the Celtics when the traded Iverson.
As for the Amare suspension: Even respected bloggers like The Basketball Jones, Deadspin, and Bill Simmons were all calling for David Stern to openly break the rules so that Amare could play. In other words, despite 10 years of being absolutely clear on this rule, so that no one could argue that there is any misunderstanding, David Stern should "bend" the rule, so that he could send the message that "We care about the integrity of this league", according to those who supported breaking the rules. How about these messages you are also sending: a) We don't care about the Spurs, we're gonna change the rules in favor of your opponents b) we don't care about Josh Smith or the Atlanta Hawks (when such events happened during the regular season) c) we don't care about Patrick Ewing or the 1997 Knicks.
Also often failed to mentioned - the rule works. It keeps players from leaving the bench, and makes it easier for the refs to quickly clean up altercations. If Amare had no "bad intentions", and I'm not saying he did, then what purpose does he serve coming onto the court? He's not helping the situation that way. And for those that say he turned back right away... duh. He turned back right away for one reason only - because he knew he was going to get suspended otherwise!
David Stern and the NBA have been coming under attack lately for some strange reasons. They have been on the right both times. Considering some of the other stuff he has done lately that has warranted scrutiny - the age limit, the dress code, the "do not go to these clubs list", even the switching of the ball - it's becoming almost automatic to attack the commish. He's got power trip issues, no doubt, but um... he's actually right on these two things. So let's save the griping for when he's really out of line, like when he passes his next rule on which movies NBA players are allow to watch or something (the "no more Scarface" rule)....
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