More on the NBA's 50th anniversary. In DC, Michael Wilbon
notes the NBA "barely had a video archive with which to fully
illustrate its history." Wilbon: "Teenagers 15 years old don't
even know Julius Erving was The Doctor; they just think he got
randomly hired on by NBC. Not surprisingly, Erving said it
doesn't bother him. But it should bother the league." NBA
Commissioner David Stern said the league and teams were "more
worried about being history than recording it" (WASHINGTON POST,
6/10). In Orange County, Mark Whicker writes the NBA "once
paralleled America -- individualistic, life-affirming, funny.
Instead, the NBA turns 50 with a thick wallet, stuck somewhere in
the pockets of an empty suit" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 6/9).
TWINS? On ESPN's "Sports Reporters," William Rhoden called
Dennis Rodman and Stern "kindred spirits": "They worship at the
same altar of marketing. Under Stern, the NBA's mantra became
'Image is everything. It doesn't matter who you are, but who you
can make people think you are.' The bottom line is buy and sell.
... Rodman is the NBA's mirror and what bothers Stern, more than
the hair, more than the eyeshadow, is that when he looks at
Rodman, he feels in an odd way that he is looking at himself"
(ESPN, 6/9).
NEUTRAL SITE SERIES? In Dallas, David Moore examines Suns
Owner Jerry Colangelo's idea for a neutral site NBA Championship.
Colangelo admits one drawback is that it would penalize the two
teams' fans. NBA's Russ Granik, on the idea: "That is not
something we advocate." Moore: "This may not be an idea whose
time has come, but it is an idea that bears consideration"
(DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 6/9).
