Now the NFL guarantess we WILL see our home team for free every week. That is awesome. Meanwhile the Bulls own part of the local Comcast Sportsnet, so a huge chunk of local games are strictly on cable. I don’t know how many teams also own part of their local cable channel and do the same. That blows.

He was all business by being overly insecure, bothered by things that never mattered, and helped guide 2/3 of these NBA teams to lose money???

How is that “all business” and “good for the game”???

He did too little for the game!!!

If he did more he would have had NO labor stoppage!!!!

Bud Selig and Paul Tagliabue never had ANY labor stoppage!!

He inherited the best athletes ever and still stunk!!! Enough of this sucking up to the mediocre Stern because he’s leaving!!!

He did too little for the game when the end result for the league is “let’s make it about the few individual stars”!!!!

Tagliabue got Commissioner of the Year by Sporting News (almost) every year!!! He can’t get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame!!!

How can that be when he was better with his sport than ANYONE else????

NBA analysis is at an all-time low because they kiss up and overpraise the undeserving!!! This stupid Stern tribute is a GREAT example of that!!!!

The lack of parity is pathetic, but people still tune in big numbers to watch the super teams – so the NBA doesn’t care. You and I can whine and moan about the inevitable Heat/Lakers finals all we want. Reality is, that series is going to get absurd ratings. Record breaking ratings.

The lottery needs to go. It’s rigged. It doesn’t curtail tanking, as teams still shamelessly tank just to get higher draft picks.

The poster above me is right about the NBA playoffs being a snoozer, overall. The conference finals and finals are usually good, but the first round is the worst by far. Only in the NBA would teams rather miss the playoffs for draft position. In the NFL and NHL, every team has a shot at a championship if they make it.

At the least, Silver’s never come off as the pretentious snob Stern always has. Still, I’m not holding my breath that he’ll be much better.

But to the important stuff. The game is not better because he chased the dollar. We’ve got maybe 4 teams with a chance for a championship not just this year, but for the next couple. We’ve got a league that is at the mercy of its players who dictate where they play and who they play with. We’ve got a league with a financial system that makes little to no sense with a soft cap and exceptions to every rule. We’ve got referees who show favoritism to star players and soften the game. We’ve got players who openly don’t work on their game and just go by on talent alone (see Jamal Crawford). We’ve got a league where only about half are actually trying to be good, the other half play their season for more ping pong balls. Speaking of which, we’ve got a draft lottery that does nothing but call into question its own process. We’ve got a league with a plethora of young talent that goes unused because of a lack of a minor league system. We’ve got a league with the least exciting playoffs in major sports. And yet, you have a league with fans so true that they come back year in and year out and are rewarded with a less than desirable product.

The NFL is always the prime example league for other leagues to look upon. They have great parity, a team driven league, and they make more money than everybody. Why can’t the NBA do the same. By making a few changes to the system the product of the NBA would grow tremendously. Implementing a few fledged minor league system would give young players who aren’t ready for the NBA a chance to grow. Players would come into the league more prepared, thus creating more stars and a more competitive league. The NFl does not have a minor league system, they use the college system as their minor leagues. If the NBA didn’t want to implement a minor league, they could extend the age requirements like the NFL. it would give them the same benefits, plus College Basketball would be that much more exciting.

They also need to do away with the soft cap. Soft caps limit roster flexibility and therefore, they limit growth. In order to do anything in the NBA you have to gut your entire roster. That’s not the way to promote parity in the league. Luck is more prominent in the NBA than any other league because of this system. Teams have to hope and pray on one or two players to work out or the next 5-10 years will be a complete waste.

The NBA can be an amazing league, but people need to be willing to change it. David Stern was not. He focused too much on short term finances rather than long term gains. Here’s to hoping Adam Silver isn’t as much like Stern as we all know he is.

Had he retired a decade ago, he would have went out universally seen as the best commissioner in sports. But today he looks like just an empty suit who has ceded all control and is now just a passenger in the league he once drove.