That's just what Stern wants you to think so you will spend all your savings on NBA season tickets!!!1! Ed O.
The NBA is fairly corrupt but doesn't have a special bias against the Blazers. It has a special bias towards it's marketable stars. Other then that it probably has to do with whims of the officials on the floor at the time. Basketball as a sport more affected by officials then most. A good crew can make a game fun to watch. A bad crew can make it a nightmare. In many ways the officials have more control over the outcome of the game then the players do. Even if the NBA isn't telling refs which games should be close and which ones shouldn't the total lack of visability into the process makes folks paranoid. I wonder if refs had to answer for calls in front of reporters like coaches and players do they would start to seem a bit less biased. Better still, have an independant organization audit each game and track all of the mistakes made by a particular crew in the game. At the end of the year add up all of them and the top 5 mistake makers get fired. Though most here hate him, I think Simmons has a good point about the refs. How are we expecting a 65 year old man to run up and down the court for 48 minutes and not make mistakes? The NBA has made a terrible error in not having a training system setup for new refs. The state of NBA officiating is a result of that error.
Stern is a crook because he has that little weasel look about him. Ever notice that crafty slimy smile, then he speaks softly, when a reporter asks him to praise himself? But as for investigating the Donaghy claims--noooo, instead he threatens the publisher, who cancels the printing. The only person with the courage to oppose referees was Sheed. A prophet is not honored in his own village. 25 years aren't enough for Stern. Little-known fact: The longest-running world leaders are 1) Fidel Castro and 2) David Stern.
