This column was well-crafted and to the point. Stern cannot guarantee the officials are clean, and allowing Crawford to ref a Spurs playoff game is the epitome of incompetence by the league. The whole Celtics-Lakers dream matchup for the league was overblown anyway. Only people with memories of the 1980s care about that rivalry, and what made the rivalry great were the players. Kareem-Magic-worthy-cooper-Scott v. DJ-Danny-Larry-Kevin-Robert. Top to bottom solid players mathing up well with each other. Awesome displays of basketball skill sithin the rules of the game (i.e. no crossovers, no routinely switching pivot feet, no palming). This year's matchup had none of that charm or skill. Gasol-Kobe-Odom was a far cry from the 1980s lakers, and the Celts were three all-stars and a mediocre supporting cast. Bland. I hope the league made a lot of money from its decision to trade integrity for a desired matchup. Crawford should never be allowed to referee in the league again after threatening a player and demonstrating on-court bias that affected the outcome of a playoff series. But don't tell Stern: he is sure the NBA has the best refs possible and they are all clean.

every championship for the last 20 years will carry an asterisk that will be known as the stern stain.

david stern runs the league like a mafia kingpin.
Fire stern!

The NBA is dead to me!

DRob is right on the money except that the league cannot do the investigation. Stern's smugness and stonewalling combined with the predisposition that all is well will cast further doubt rather than clear the air if the league handles this internally.

Stern is a joke and the owners ought to "suggest" he retire.

I've come to believe that the NBA is more about the greenbacks than it is about true athletic competition. Otherwise there is no logical explanation for the preferential treatment that star players receive.

Robinson, can you write something positive and be less suspicious for once.

The NBA and Stern are done!! There is much more info that will come out soon about the corruption in the NBA .

Smiles: Doug writes things that are positive all the time. You just need to "read", that's all...

A very well-written and insightful article. I agree completely. Don't forget David Stern himself said a Lakers vs Celtics matchup in the finals would be great for the NBA, and this was when there were still several teams left who had a chance to go that far. Stern runs the NBA as if it were a business instead of an actual sports league where every team has an equal opportunity to win. I have stopped watching the NBA because of that fact. I don't intend to go back until I see evidence that it's legit.