Enough is enough. Bring them back. Now.

The NBA replacement referees are no doubt trying their hardest to fit in and do a good job. Maybe too good of a job. Yesterday your intrepid author, NBAObsessed, wrote about the coach from Tel Aviv, Pini Gershon, getting kicked out of an exhibition game.

Maccabi Coach Pini Gershon points out he does not work for the NBA

Yes, you heard that correct, an exhibition game!

This is just another case of the NBA replacement referees taking their jobs a bit too seriously. Maybe they think they will get hired on permanently.

This was one of those games where officials needed to understand time and place and circumstances. In that way, these crews are lost causes. As much as anything, that’s the criticism of these lockout refs from the Developmental League and WNBA: They have no sense for the speed and skill and athleticism of the NBA.

Thus, the whistles never stop blowing. They hesitate on the obvious and tweet on the bizarre. The games are a traffic pileup of starts and stops, sluggish and unwatchable. There’s no flow, no rhythm.

“They don’t have a feel for the NBA game,” one NBA GM said. “They’re really quick to blow their whistles before letting the play develop.”

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David Stern needs to get off his Kuester, wait that is the Pistons coach, NBAObsessed meant to say keister, and anyway get off his butt and get the regular referees back on the job.

Do you know how embarrassing this is? Well, the Tel Aviv team had paid for the exhibition game and the proceeds were for charity. The coach refused to leave the court because he could not believe he was being thrown out and what were they going to do to him? Fine him? To paraphrase the coach’s words, he does not work for the National Stern Association.

The referees did accomplish one good thing though. They took your attention off of the New York Knicks, so you didn’t see how bad they are playing right now.
Image: Zuma Press

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There was David Stern giving his annual pre finals state of the NBA address. This year it was quite interesting, as it was announced that the Charlotte Bobcats would most likely be up for sale. That in itself would be news, but you really have to realize how tough it is to make a buck in the NBA.

News has leaked in recent weeks that Bobcats majority owner Bob Johnson, who founded the team in 2004, was losing over $10 million annually from his original $300 million investment and wanted out before he was even more in the red.

Charlotte is currently valued at $284 million by Forbes. Once boasting one of the league’s more robust attendance averages at the old Charlotte Coliseum, it currently ranks 29th among the NBA’s 30 franchises in net worth.

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Now stop right there and give it some thought. The Charlotte Bobcats have never been very good and do not have a marquee player to exhibit to the NBA marketing gurus. Tough to sell a team that is considered a joke.

The Magic must make money with Dwight Howard, right?

Now how about a magical team like the Orlando Magic. They must be making tons of bucks, right? This is where you might be surprised. This is where you realize just how bad the economy really is.

While the Magic are ranked 17th by Forbes with a valuation of $349 million, the franchise was expecting in May to lose $15 million to $20 million this season.

Martins said at the time that the amount the team lost this season would depend upon its playoff run. Reaching the Finals will definitely lessen the blow, but the Magic certainly have even more riding on the opening of their new arena in 2010.

The Magic have received some good news in regards to that opening, though. Sports Business Journal reported last month that a $100 million loan the Magic were seeking to help them finance their contribution to the arena was close to going through.

The approval of the loan will make the team the first mid-tier professional franchise to secure financing that big since the slowing down of the credit markets at the end of last year.

Stern has even promised them the All Star game to help them out. Now if the Magic are struggling, how can the Bobcats expect to turn a profit?

Photo source Newscom

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Uh oh, isn’t that LeBron James having a very good time in New York?

Every time this subject comes up, the possible leaving of LeBron James from the Cavaliers, the most comments roll in. Some of you realize my Detroit Pistons loyalties and think this is just stirring up trouble. Some of you have heard this or that about LeBron in Cleveland and say LeBron is staying no matter what.

My thinking is follow the money. LeBron can be branded so much more effectively in New York than in Cleveland.

My guess is only if the Cavaliers can surround him with a great team will he stay in Cleveland.

The writers at ESPN, 25 of them, were asked where LeBron would end up in 2010 and most of them said Cleveland, but one of them even said my Pistons. Oh, wouldn’t that be great!

The Knicks are mentioned and even Europe with their 50 million dollar offer.

And how about the Nets?

But Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports wonders if Cleveland has enough glitz and glamour to prevent James from bolting to the Nets: “LeBron doesn’t want to just win titles. His stated wants include becoming sport’s first billionaire athlete. Among his advisors, he counts Warren Buffett. Jay-Z has helped James focus his mind on chasing something bigger than basketball. The question will be this: For the kid out of Akron, will his hometown — will even winning — be enough to hold onto LeBron James?”

And the Nets’ expected move to Brooklyn could be the clincher for LeBron, if we are to take seriously his proclaimed love for the Nets’ borough-to-be, as reported by Chris Sheridan: “My favorite borough? Brooklyn. Brooklyn is definitely a great place here in New York City, and some of my best friends are from Brooklyn.”

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Photo source newscom

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Kobe Bryant speaks Spanish. Will he learn Chinese?

Will the NBA be looking to set up shop in China? Yes.

Will the NBA be looking to set up another NBA in China? Not according to David Stern, but he does see some potential.

Stern said NBA China is in an “ongoing dialogue” with Chinese authorities about installing 800,000 baskets in villages across this sprawling country. The NBA also hopes to be involved with a Chinese professional league. But Stern balked at comparisons with the NBA’s Development League.

“That would be a separate league that would be NBA-affiliated or NBA-sponsored, but it would be independent,” Stern said. “And it would just sign players. For a very long time to come it would be at a lower scale than the NBA. But as the sport develops in China, and as more players around the world recognize the opportunities of playing in China, we see that league growing and strengthening.”

For now, the NBA will maintain its on-court presence in China with exhibition games, with games planned for Guangzhou and Beijing this fall. The teams have not been announced.

“I think that that is likely to become a regular thing,” Stern said.

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This US Team, nicknamed the Redeem Team, is more likeable than any Olympic basketball team since the Dream Team took the court in Barcelona. Chinese fans are loving LeBron James and Kobe Bryant and the dynamic style of NBA play.

David Stern has another winning hand and he knows how to play it.

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Tim Donaghy will be switching uniforms

They sent him to the big house.

U.S. District Judge Carol Amon sentenced Donaghy to prison time, plus three years of supervised release, saying he’d let the sport down by taking thousands of dollars from a professional gambler in exchange for inside tips on games — including ones he refereed.

“The NBA, the players and the fans relied on him to perform his job in an honest manner,” Amon said. Donaghy listened with his arms folded but showed no emotion.

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Tim received 15 months, but could have gotten 33. His lawyer argued for treatment not incarceration.

This story just keeps going with more developments.

The NBA has a gambling stigma?

Tim Donaghy claims games were requested fixed in the past?

David Stern hires all kinds of official overseers, including a retired Army general?

And now enters that dreaded word Racism.

Justin Wolfers, an assistant professor of business and public policy at Penn’s Wharton School, who co-authored a study that said white referees called fouls at a greater rate against black players than against white players, said the league needs to share all of the information it has.

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LeBron James in a Cav’s uni drives on Richard Jefferson in a Net’s uni. Jefferson is now a Buck and LeBron could become a Net

Image details: Cleveland Cavaliers v New Jersey Nets served by picapp.com

The New Jersey Nets are starting over.

Heck, they have been starting over for years. Ever since they beat the Pistons in the conference finals, years ago, they have been on a slow downhill slide.

Now they want LeBron James.

The Nets need a perfect storm to make this happen once James can opt out of his Cleveland Cavaliers contract and make himself the most desirable free agent in NBA history. The Nets are counting on part-owner Jay-Z’s personal crusade to recruit his close friend to Brooklyn, but there’s nothing to discuss until the Nets remake themselves for the long run.

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During the regular season, the Nets unloaded Jason Kidd to Dallas and ended up much younger with Devin Harris.

Now they have traded Richard Jefferson with his 42.5 million dollar contract to the John Hammond run Bucks for Yi Jianlian, so they picked up size and unloaded a sizeable long term contract. Yi may never develop into much of a player, it is too early to tell, but in the New York area, he will have an audience. Meanwhile, John Hammond lands a star player with toughness for his new energized tough Bucks. It will be fun to follow John’s future moves.

In the draft they added size and shooting.

two No. 1 picks on Thursday night – Stanford’s Brook Lopez and California’s Ryan Anderson. They would’ve been satisfied with this change, but a player who they had considered picking at No. 21 – Memphis’ Chris Douglas-Roberts – dropped to them early in the second round.

LeBron James plays one more year before he is a free agent. New Jersey wants to be well under the salary cap, because if they land LeBron, they also may land one of his friends, like Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire.

If any two of those players are put together … Wow!

You can only imagine how much LeBron could make in New York compared to Cleveland. LeBron would become the global icon that David Stern has wanted since Michael Jordan moved into the front office.

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Paul Pierce dominated the fourth quarter at the line. Hey, isn’t that Tayshaun Prince?

Image details: Boston Celtics v Detroit Pistons, Game 6 served by picapp.com

For Pistons fans it was a fourth quarter to forget, leading by ten points 70 – 60 after Detroit scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter, the Pistons went on to lose to the Boston Celtics 89 – 81.

There was Kevin Garnett knocking down jump shots.

There was Paul Pierce making free throw after free throw.

There was Ray Allen drilling quick 3 pointers.

There was Tayshaun Prince…Hey, where was Tay?

There was Rasheed Wallace…Not.

And that was the story. One quarter, one letdown and the Celtics are off to the finals.

In the end, Chauncey Billups (29 points) and Rip Hamilton (21 points) played great, but the Pistons could not stop Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

Pierce scored 27 points, Ray Allen had 17 and Garnett added 16 to lift the Boston Celtics to an 89-81 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.

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After the game Paul Pierce had this to say.

“I’m just happy to be a part of this, man,” said Celtics forward Paul Pierce, who scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter. “It’s been a long process. I could write a whole book on my emotions right now. But I’m just happy to be in this position, still with the Boston Celtics.

“It makes me think about a year ago today what I was doing. To be in this position with the same team going to the Finals, it’s nothing I can really put into words.”

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Celtics vs. Lakers

Well, it is off to Los Angeles to see Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

The old rivalry is back.

The Celtics own 16 NBA titles, the Lakers 14. Boston won the season series, 2-0, but the rivalry had been dormant since the retirements of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the early 1990s.

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Amazing, 30 titles, not just 30 appearances in the finals, but 30 actual titles.

David Stern will sleep tonight.

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Legendary Jerry West and Kobe Bryant celebrate winning the Western Conference title

Image details: San Antonio Spurs v Los Angeles Lakers, Game 5 served by picapp.com

The Lakers defeated the Spurs and earned a trip to the NBA Finals.

Kobe Bryant scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs 100-92 on Thursday night and win the conference finals in five games.

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Stern rejoices

Commissioner David Stern could get his dream matchup of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Boston Celtics after all. Two big money cities, one from each coast, filled with championship lore, fighting it out for the NBA Title. What more could Stern even dream of? Well, how about the series goes 7 games?

The matchup he feared was the San Antonio Spurs vs. the Detroit Pistons. That series would feature a lot of defense and low TV ratings. Sorry, but when one team has a player known as the Big Fundamental and the other team features no one, it is hard to market to the world.

Consider that in Detroit the Hockey games have been drawing better than the Basketball games.

Pittsburgh’s 3-2 win on Wednesday night earned a 2.8 national rating and an 18.2 rating in Detroit, beating out the 15.9 rating for the Pistons’ matchup with the Boston Celtics.

Game 5 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals drew a 5.3 national rating.
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How can your host city be beaten by Hockey? You remember that sport, the one with the puck? Hockey and the Red Wings are huge in Detroit.

One final note and it is not even close, Boston and LA have been to more finals individually in Basketball than any other teams. Just look at all the titles that Red Auerbach won with Boston.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson has won nine championships, tied for the NBA record with former Boston coach Red Auerbach.

Lakers fired up!

The Lakers could not contain their excitement. The Western Conference had so many teams that finished with close records that to finally win a trip to the finals was just too much to handle. It is a good thing the Lakers had home court advantage.

The Lakers are 12-3 in the playoffs, including 8-0 at Staples Center, where they haven’t lost in two months. They have won 14 straight home games and 21 of their last 24 postseason games at home.

“My heart’s still pumping, that adrenaline is still running from the game,” said Lamar Odom, who had 13 points and eight rebounds. “Maybe when I sit down and have something to eat, I’ll realize what just happened.

“We came out here, played our game, and won. It’s satisfying, but one more step.”

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The NBA Finals start next Thursday.

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LeBron James All Star MVP – Time to get out of Dodge err Cleveland!

With David Stern happy to have NBA Marketing Icon LeBron James as the MVP of the 2008 All Star game, the world can move on.

If you had to lay odds, it had to be James as MVP.

The NBA is a marketing organization, not a sports organization. Right now the future of the NBA seems secure, with possible expansion out of the USA and many stars in the league, but it can change fast and David Stern knows that.

Don’t get me wrong, LeBron is so good he probably would win the MVP of the All Star game anyway, almost every year.

It wouldn’t be long until these pulsating final minutes of this fabulous All-Star Game ultimately belonged to the genius of its Most Valuable Player with 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. It wouldn’t be long until commissioner David Stern passed him his second trophy at 23 years old, and the world would see who the star of stars was again at New Orleans Arena.

“LeBron is a freight train when he goes to that basket,” West coach Byron Scott sighed. “He’s so big, and so strong – so quick and so powerful. It’s hard to stop him when he gets the momentum going like that.” source

Now it is time to plan for LeBron to leave Cleveland.

The Cavaliers will have a hard time putting together consistent teams in Cleveland.

Over the summer, LeBron, Bryant and Jason Kidd were grumbling teammates with Team USA. Bryant wanted out of Los Angeles. Kidd wanted a trade to Cleveland. And James just wanted someone to share the burden with him. Well, the two point guards whom Cleveland GM Danny Ferry had tried to obtain for two years – Kidd and Mike Bibby – are on the way to Dallas and Atlanta.

The NBA needs to keep LeBron on the highest stage possible. That stage would be the NBA Playoffs and probably at least the Conference Finals. Hopefully the Championship series itself.

You can’t market Tim Duncan.

As much as it hurts your intrepid author (a huge Pistons fan), the League does not want anymore San Antonio Spurs vs. Detroit Pistons series. To fans outside of those teams, it is boring. They play defense.

Think of Kevin Garnett’s Boston Celtics vs. Kobe’s Lakers.

Think of Steve Nash and the Shaq bringing the Suns in to play LeBron James when he is on the Knicks (without Isiah).

Jerry Stackhouse may not be all smiles if the Jason Kidd trade does not go through

Jerry Stackhouse gave an interview saying New Jersey would buy out his contract, then after the 30 day waiting period, Stack could return to the Mavericks in a prearranged deal. source

This is illegal. It is called tampering. The league may not allow Jerry to return to the Mav’s if the trade happened.

Mark Cuban does not want to lose Stack.

Wow, this just keeps getting better. First, Devean George and his Bird Rights, and now Jerry Stackhouse and tampering.

Just think how happy David Stern must feel to stick the dagger in Cuban for once.

Losing Stack to gain Kidd, may hurt the Mav’s depth, but still would improve their team.

This deal just got more complicated, but will still probably happen in some form or another.

LeBron wants action

Meanwhile, LeBron James is upset that the Cavaliers have done nothing to try and get Kidd, in spite of LeBron’s lobbying for Jason. It is doubtful that the Nets would leave Jason Kidd in the same conference.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will Dallas and New Jersey get this deal done in time for the trade deadline?

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