NBA Conspiracy Theory - The Identity Crisis

I can’t stop but think of one thing. The NBA is awaiting a Boston-LA match-up.

This headline was cropping up ever since that trade happened in Boston that shipped Garnett and Ray Allen to Boston.

Say it isn’t so Mr. Stern.

I don’t know, I may be a little biased because I root for Detroit but watching the Eastern Conference finals, I can’t help but shake my head on the calls made, especially the ones called in the last few minutes of the last quarter.

Especially the non-call on that foul on Billups. The one where Paul Pierce literally tackled Billups. Pierce wasn’t even going after the ball! It was a strangle! And, sorry Jeff Van Gundy but that foul on Maxiell was indeed a flagrant foul.

Going back, how about that incident that injured Billups’ hamstring? That wasn’t accidental, that was actually malicious! Check out the replays and you’ll see Jameer Nelson clip the left foot of Billups.

Throughout the years, the NBA has been observing ‘double standards”, like it or not. They always cater to the trend, milking on the team (or player) that best identifies with the audience.

At the time that the Bad Boys were the “in” thing, they didn’t give much fuss on how physical the games were. The spotlight were on players like Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, John Starks (well, that’s aside from Michael Jordan, of course). They didn’t care if Charles Barkley would throw punches here and there or if Bill Laimbeer would spit at an opponent.

But after the Jordan era, the NBA was in need of an identity. They were in dire need of an ambassador for the game. Somebody as marketable and as charismatic as a Magic Johnson, Larry Bird or a Michael Jordan. But much of their effort was in vain. They tried marketing young stars (at that time) such as the Michigan fab five (which were all a flash-in-the-pan—ok, ok, some of them sizzled for quite some time), Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Stephan Marbury and the rest of the Brat pack of that era—Let’s count in Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady. All in vain.

The Shaq-Kobe tandem worked for awhile. It even attracted oldies like Karl Malone & Gary Payton to tag along, only to have their hopes jammed by the feuding duo. So they tried Kobe and his swollen ego in a solo act. Hopes fizzled out with his personal crisis.

The champs that went in-between the Jordan era—the Hakeem led Houston Rockets—were no glamour guys. They had a Nigerian Superstar, a poor man’s Michael Jordan in Clyde Drexler, a trying-hard superstar in Kenny Smith and a young Sam Cassell. This team was back-to-back champions but were never as heralded like the Showtime Lakers or the Bad Boys

Like it or not, the Chicago Bulls was the NBA’s saving grace in the mid-to-late 90’s. The identity, the milking cow, the NBA’s banner.

Then it became either boring or tumultuous.

San Antonio Spurs became champs again. NBA and its general audience found the team boring. But to those basketball enthuse, The Spurs were what is to be called “fundamentalists”. They didn’t have the flashy kind of player, well aside from Manu. But from the head coach down to the last player on the bench, the Spurs were all fundamentals, not the Jordanesque type of players.

Then the Lakers went on to win the next 3 championships. The NBA feasted on this, knowing that this once fabled franchise of the Showtime era went rocky for sometime, got the ingredients they needed but were still groping for form until the last piece of the puzzle, the Zen guru at the realm, controlling the offense, as well as the players’ egos.

But this didn’t last long. Egos went out of proportion that even the smoothest of coaches cannot ease. Pandemonium broke out within, The big diesel opted to be traded to another team, broke the dynasty that would have been, left the NBA with another identity crisis.

The institution groped for a flag carrier. There were different teams that won the championship but none of these are the ones that the general audience wanted. The Pistons didn’t have that much followers outside of Detroit or maybe Michigan. (Well, what the NBA didn’t know that the Pistons are well loved here on the other side of the globe!). The Spurs won again, still the audience found them boring. The Miami Heat made a little splash with the fairy tale ending to their post season success, then the Spurs won again.

Aside from the consistent, fundamentalists and boring Spurs team, all the other champs were one hit wonders and the NBA is finding it rather a shaky situation not to have a consistent “dynasty” as a flag carrier for the league.

They tried to cradle Sweet Baby LeBron James but James is not the prototype effective leader. Not yet anyway. He never will be. I bet my one month pay on that. I see Chris Paul as an effective leader. I see Duncan and I see a leader in him. Hell, I can sense that Kobe is becoming more of an effective leader now. Dirk can never be a leader. He and Jason Kidd need to gel in order for their tandem to work, otherwise that team is only good for the playoffs.

Now, this season, the NBA found a substitute milking cow. The rejuvenated Boston Celtics pitted against the LA Lakers. It has been the headline all season long and as we are witnessing now, ticky-tack fouls are called in the conference finals. Clearly, the Boston Celtics doesn’t have the edge to boot out the Detroit Pistons. Refs have been so inconsistent. The commentators are riding it high too! They are clearly paving the way for a Boston-LA match up. That’s robbing the real fans their money’s worth!

As an NBA fan for 20 years now, all I’m asking the league is to have the game be as it should be played. Let the calls be consistent. Allow the emotions to run through the game. I don’t mean to the extent of a few more brawls but let it be a game, not a show running on a script.

If Boston wins this series, then this should be because they earned it, not because the league paved the way for them.

No more of that lame calls. If the game started as physical, let it end that way and not change anywhere in the middle part. If the calls are to be called tightly, then let it be so throughout the game.

That’s the reason why I prefer to watch games officiated by older refs like Dick Bavetta, Ed Rush, Joey Crawford and other, older referees. They are more reasonable, more consistent with their calls than the other younger referees.

Finally, if the Celtics win game 6, hopefully it’s because they deserve the win. Otherwise, let it stretch out to 7 Games!