More from Stern, Orlando vs Miami, John Wall's debut

David Stern: NBA Europe division in a decade

A recent AP report, also posted on ESPN.com, quoted David Stern (talking to business leaders over a luncheon), "And now what I'm saying is, 'It's inevitable, it'll happen in 10 years.' But in terms of globalization, we're going to see a desire for franchises in Europe -- and in about 10 years, you'll send me a postcard."

Stern envisions a 5 team division in Europe, where NBA teams will travel to and play against every team twice before returning back to the United States. Players would potentially get three days after travelling before playing their first game in Europe, and likely three days rest after returning to the States before resuming play.

Despite current talks of contraction, Stern remains confident the league will continue to prosper, and will continue to attract fanbases around the world. So what would an NBA Europe look like? The five host cities that come to my mind are Paris, London, Athens, Barcelona (or Madrid), and perhaps Rome or Berlin. If the teams played each current NBA team twice, they'd be left with 22 more games to play amongst eachother, or five to six games between each team. Instead, each team may make a US trip for 6 games, allowing each in the Euro division to play one another 4 times.

As an American based fan, prospect of a European expansion doesn't really concern me at all. Although, I like the idea of two at large bids for European teams for the NBA playoffs, reducing the number of current NBA teams in the playoffs to 14; something I think would make the regular season more competitive.

Orlando at Miami

In the first battle of Florida teams this season, Dwayne Wade and Lebron James teamed up to obliterate the Orlando Magic. The Heat won the game 96-70, behind 26 points from D-Wade and 15, 7 and 6 for LeBron. The Heat showed their defensive prowess, shutting out Dwight Howard in the second half and holding Orlando to 30% shooting from the field. The Magic shot only 17% from the 3 point line, and looked like a lottery bound team against the suffocating Heat.

Both teams will continue to improve as the season progresses. Orlando is certainly a playoff team, and may win a good number of games again. However, they are no threat to contend for an NBA title, and are probably a bit worse than a season ago. Miami is the real deal. Injuries will be the only way this team doesn't make the Finals. Boston will be right there with the Heat at the end of the season, and the teams will likely meet in the playoffs, but I just don't see the Celtics banging out another 100 game NBA Finals caliber season on all their miled legs. Especially against a talented team with a chip on their shoulder in Miami.

Rondo's boss

Speaking of the Celtics, Rajon Rondo recorded 24 assists in his first triple-double of the season. Rondo scored 10 and rebounded 10 to go along with his assists, leading the Celtics to a 105-101 victory over the Knicks in Boston. Rondo's elite play is the only reason the Celtics will remain a powerhouse this season. Even with Pierce, Garnett, Allen and Shaq, the team loses so much in terms of speed, athleticism, defense, and energy if Rondo misses any time. Like Magic took the reigns from Kareem, Worthy, Green and those guys, Rondo is taking over in Boston, a good thing for Celtics fans.

John runs into a Wall

John Wall was welcomed to the NBA a couple nights ago as his Washington Wizards were blown out by the Orlando Magic. Wall found himself getting knocked around most of the night, without the benefit of calls from the referee's. Wall finished the game with 14 points, 9 assists and 3 steals, but shot only 31% from the field. Wall displays great talent and ability and should contend with Blake Griffin for the league's Rookie of the Year award. Otherwise, this season's all about learning and losing for John Wall and his Washington Wizards.

Stern's comments, among other thoughts

Stern on Cowherd

David Stern appeared via radio on the Colin Cowherd program on ESPN this morning. Stern commented on his stance that the current level of player salary is unsustainable, and at the same time somewhat defended player salary levels by saying, "Let the season begin and let's see him in earnest. I don't want to say anything bad about Darko...Judgements are made and that's why they play the season." of the uber-rich, not so talented Darko Milicic (17.6 mpg for his career), who signed a 4 year $20 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves faster than he'd sign a pre-nup this summer.

Stern also numbers the teams sharing a $300-$400 million loss at "more than half the league." Talk of contraction may turn into action; more likely Stern is trying to reign in losing owners overpaying for loser players on the one hand, while reigning in player salary levels on the other. I agree with Stern that player salary, as an aggregate, is too high. The minimum rookie salary this season is 473,604; and in the NBA's economic system (revenue-sharing, unionized, set minimum salary spending levels) it makes sense to me, as a fan, that these guys should earn just a bit more, but the highest paid stars, and even the class of players below them, should earn a good deal less.

The minimum amount of salary a team could spend on players this season is $43.533 million, the salary cap at $58.044 million, and the luxury tax threshold at $70.307 million. 11 teams were over the luxury tax line last season, the New York Knicks the only team on the list not to make a playoff appearnce. Now, Stern is even mulling the option of a hard salary cap in the model of the NHL system. The hard cap in the NHL led to less players and lower salaries. It also means owners won't take so many seven figure foolish risks on players.

A team spending $43 million could not compete in the NBA today, almost literally. In 2008-2009, the lowest spending team in the NBA was the Memphis Grizzlies, whose player salary expense totaled over $55 million, spanning a roster with 15 millionaires. Systems are out of whack, and Stern wants more control over the situation.

Sheepishly, Colin Cowherd spoke of Stern as a capitalist, himself as a capitalist and his audience as all capitalists when bringing up the issue of owners making suspect choices with millions of dollars. The truth is, the NBA economic system incorporates a good deal of control. The market is closed to begin with (teams cannot just open on their own accord), and also, the forementioned unions, minimum spending levels, revenue-sharing, luxury tax levels, player salary ranges, etc., are all functions of controlled economics.

Boston loses at Cleveland

The Boston Celtics lost a game to the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, one night after defeating the Miami Heat at home to kick off the NBA regular season...in front of the largest cable audience in the history of NBA regular season games. While the Cavs did look like a playoff contender against Boston for their home opener, the Celtics were due to have a let-down game after the Miami debut. It was also the second night of a back-to-back, and the Celtics are old. Kudos to the Cavs, I can see them starting the season well before falling to the middle of the pack.

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What Was Revealed: Suns vs. Blazers

The new look Phoenix Suns travelled to Portland to take on the Blazers on opening night, Tuesday, October 26. The Suns hung tough with Portland for 3 and 1/2 quarters, but faltered down the stretch as the Blazers pulled away with an 18-1 run to finish the game with a 106-92 victory.

Portland dominated all night on the glass, getting second and third shots regularly. Nicolas Batum played well on both ends of the floor, and was defended by Steve Nash for much of the night. Batum, with a 7'6" wingspan, easily shot and rebounded over Nash on offense, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Brandon Roy scored 24 points, had 6 assists and 3 steals. Wes Matthews had a triumphant debut, scoring 13 points and grabbing 6 boards in 30 minutes. The Blazers were +22 with Matthews in the game. Matthews signed a contract with Portland this summer paying the young guard $10 million this season to pry him away from the Jazz.

Phoenix relied more on Nash for scoring than a season ago when they had 20 ppg to rely on from Amare Stoudemire. Nash was accurate as usual, scoring 26 points on 19 attempts. He added 6 assists. Hedo Turkoglu's debut was not as successful as Matthew's. Turkoglu finished with 6 points and 3 rebounds, but did hold Aldridge to 8 points. Jason Richardson was on fire, shooting 9 for 13 from the field and scoring 22 points. It was a wonder the Suns didn't go to J-Rich more often. Hakim Warrick also had a nice night, scoring 10 points in 18 minutes.

The Trailblazers look like they're ready for another 50 win season. They are long, athletic, disciplined and have a top 20 player in Brandon Roy.  The big question for Portland is, as it has been for the last three or four seasons, can they stay healthy...especially when it counts? This team has the pieces to give the Lakers fits in the playoffs, and they have younger legs.

The Suns are a mediocre team, with Nash they are pretty good. Nash probably can carry Phoenix on his shoulders through the year, but at what expense to the next two or three years? Phoenix needs to find more scoring, and I think it should come from Hakim Warrick. Warrick set a couple nice picks for Nash, and was rewarded with layups on the role. He has the explosiveness to somewhat fill the pick and roll slot left by Amare, the Suns will just have to be creative as to where to set the play. Warrick can also hit a jump shot, so he fits well in this offense. The Suns would be better off if Warrick can average around 15-16 ppg. Another Phoenix problem is rebounding. They were out-rebounded 60-38 (including team rebounds), and do not have the scoring or shot-blocking threats to make up for that discrepancy. It might be a long season for the Suns, but with a healthy Steve Nash, this team might slip in to the playoffs.

Blazer's PG Jarryd Bayless to New Orleans

The New Orleans Hornet's front office made a sneaky good trade for reserve third year PG Jarryd Bayless. Bayless has had trouble finding playing time in Portland, buried beneath a bevy of talented guards. Now, in New Orleans, Bayless will back-up all-league PG Chris Paul. New Orleans gave up a future first round draft pick in the deal. The move strengthens the back court for New Orleans, as the Hornets were without a true back-up PG after trading last year's rookie standout Darren Collison for Trevor Ariza. The team had traded for Willie Green previously, but now he will be able to back-up the two-guard, a more natural fit for Green.

Bayless has shown a knack for scoring in his brief opportunities, scoring 8.5 points in 17.5 minutes per game last season. As the playoffs came, Bayless was given an extended role, playing 27.7 minutes and scoring 13.5 points per game. With tutelage from Chris Paul, Bayless' game should improve dramatically in his third season, especially in the later part of the year. Point guards typically make a leap in their third NBA campaign, having learned much of the nuances of the pro game. Will this move put the Hornets over the hump to get back into the playoffs? Maybe, more likely though they'll rely on Chris Paul staying healthy for any talk of playoffs.

David Stern calls for 33% reduction in player salary

NBA Commissioner David Stern recently revealed he wants player salary cut 33% across the board, somewhere between $700-800 million. This season, the league predicts a loss of $340-350 million, not a small tab, even to ultra rich NBA franchise owners. A  lockout 2011-2012 season is not out of the question. That has me worried. The NBA employs many people directly or indirectly, from sales positions to food vendors; it isn't only players and coaches that make their living from the NBA.

I don't care whether player salary gets cut or the league contracts to 28 teams, but while Stern calls for player cost reduction, this blog calls for Stern to call for 33% ticket price reduction across the board. According to Team Marketing Report, the average ticket price for an NBA game is $48.89, up 3.6% from a season ago. To be fair, most teams offer tickets for as little as $5-10, however on my last search for my NBA team, the cheapest ticket was $56. A family of four costs over $200, and that's before they walked in the door. And those were the nosebleed sections. That's a bit much.


To watch a basketball game, where its key competitors may or may not play at 100%, like the third game of an extended early season road trip, should not cost upwards of $300-400. Cut the ticket prices, and then work the other stuff out.

Where LeBron's Wrong on Race

Let's face it, sometimes sports are more than just athletic competition. Sometimes sports transcends its medium, and effects the hearts, minds and sentiments of the general public. Usually this phenomenon occurs with gender and race issues, Billy Jean King and Jackie Robinson are the obvious associations that come to mind.

Race, said LeBron James, played a part in his criticism surrounding his moving to the Miami Heat this summer. After weeks of lambasting by basketball pundits like Charles Barkley, who called the claim 'stupid', some ESPN analysts who concede race may play a small role, but ultimately the backlash is due to the way in which he left Cleveland, on national TV, in an hour long special, something had to give. 

Today, James revealed some of the racist tweets directed at him to shed some light on his earlier comments. I see the frustration and the offensive language, however, the larger problem is worse than even racism. After reading the tweets, it is plain to see that some fans have a very real disconnect between themselves and the sports world, and perhaps the world in general. 

These people reveal through their words they feel they have a sort of stake or claim in LeBron James. They attack him personally, as if he had done some real harm. Not engaged with reality, people role play, to some extent, through heroes - fictional heroes - created and cultivated in athletes, actors and singers. There is a part of voyeurism that seems dangerous to the human psyche. At some point a line is crossed where fiction and reality start to blur. Inviting a person into your living room on a weekly basis, choosing to take time away from things like family, projects, personal growth or just other leisure is kind of a big deal; even if it's just a couple of hours two or three times a week.

Another issue is anonymity. With mediums like Twitter, anybody can anonymously say anything to almost anybody in the public eye. I wonder how these tweeters would react to meeting LeBron at a restaurant. I don't imagine for a second someone would say those comments posted on Twitter. Much more likely, they would be grateful for the experience of meeting James, a rich, famous, relevant American athlete, an identifiable face in a sea of nobodies. Twitter gives these base-thinkers a platform to be heard, and these visceral tweeters revert to plain attack. 

Racism, it seems to me, is the scapegoat for this kind of outpour of hatred. Only because of a disconnect from reality is the racism even conceived, a 'normal' person would not verbally attack another person with no personal relationship, however here the connection is fictionally established. Disagree with, OK, denounce, yes; but to spew "U have til the end of the day to RT me and if u dont....tomorrow u will not wake up happy...or al i ve" shows an individual with a disturbed psyche. There must be others with the same disposition, so I can see where the racism issue finds a role in a free agent's move; without really being about race at all.

In any event, I can't wait for LeBron to remind the basketball watching world what he does on a basketball court.