Attending last night's Jazz-Blazers playoff game, NBA
Commissioner David Stern "addressed everything from scoring
to officiating to marketing," according to CBS SportsLine's
Mike Kahn, who wrote that Stern "made clear, ... he's not
the least bit embarrassed about the marketing perception" of
the league. Stern: "My job over time is to market the game.
If you don't market your game, you become a second class
citizen." Kahn wrote the "perception" is that Stern is "not
paying enough attention" to the NBA and "what is being
perceived as a shrinking audience." But Stern said, "My
perception is (the media) always needs something to complain
about. First it was the violence, so we changed the rules
and took care of that with flagrant fouls. Then it was the
players' attitudes, so we took care of that. I think our
players' attitudes have been pretty good, 86 percent of our
seats have been filled. The ratings are fine, thank you ...
we're still a premier weekend sports attraction." Kahn
wrote the NBA's formula "is working. Consider the WNBA is
about even with the NHL in television ratings and far ahead
of MLS in ratings. ... The advent of women's professional
basketball has surpassed their wildest dreams in such a
short time (CBS SportsLine, 5/9). But in Seattle, Art Thiel
writes that the NBA, "the one-time darling of the pro sports
leagues is on a slide. Nothing that isn't irreversible.
But its own panic over the decline makes the NBA look silly,
and provokes curiosity as to whether David Stern still has a
grip" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 5/10).
