National Basketball Association criticisms and controversies
Encyclopedia
The National Basketball Association
(NBA) has faced a multitude of criticisms from both sports writers and fans.
". While some observers have argued that this criticism has more to do with race than hip hop itself, it is a fact that the league is very much connected to the hip hop culture. Rappers Nelly
and Jay-Z
have ownership stakes in NBA teams (the Charlotte Bobcats
and New Jersey Nets
respectively), and many artists have worn NBA throwback jerseys in music videos. In turn, the NBA plays rap and hip hop in arenas during games. NBA video games NBA 2K and NBA Live use hip hop in their soundtrack, and ABC
–ESPN
uses the music during its coverage. Players in the NBA have tried rap or hip hop themselves (Shaquille O'Neal
, Kobe Bryant
, Tony Parker
, Allen Iverson
, Chris Webber
, and Ron Artest are some examples) and several also dress and act in ways that are in accordance with the hip hop culture (for example, the tattoos and jewelry worn by several players).
Since 1998, the NBA's television ratings
have dropped considerably (some also attribute this is to Michael Jordan
's retirement and the decline of the Chicago Bulls
), and criticism of the league has mounted to the point where some columnists have freely referred to players in the league as "thugs" in columns and referred to the league as "violent".
Some have argued that the criticism of the NBA is hypocritical, considering the relative lack of criticism of Major League Baseball
, National Hockey League
or National Football League
players. Some have also noticed that music genres and sports partnerships are not limited to the NBA, with the alternative rock
genre being associated with the NHL, and country music being associated with NASCAR
.
While some columnists believe that the criticism of the league is based largely in racial and generational stereotypes and biases, others believe that the NBA put itself in such a position by not distancing itself from the darker aspects of hip hop culture.
in 2005, banning all clothing associated with the hip hop culture. Players were instructed not to wear jewelry, throwback jerseys, headphones, indoor sunglasses and other accessories, and instead were told to wear "business casual" clothing. The dress code, characterized by some as "clearly and unapologetically directed toward suppressing hip-hop culture", was instantly controversial and a topic on many sports radio talk shows for several days. Many players objected, most notably Allen Iverson
, who has faced the brunt of most hip hop related NBA criticism.
Baggy shorts, also a symbol of hip hop culture, were banned by the league as well, which instituted a rule on the length of players' shorts while playing. Tights
, which players started to wear under their shorts in the 2005–06 season
(though not a symbol of hip hop culture) were banned as well. No players were fined for dress code violations during the 2005-06 NBA season
. The league has also attempted to severely distance itself from hip hop since the infamous Pacers–Pistons brawl in 2004; in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game
, country music stars Big and Rich performed at halftime, a move that was ridiculed by TNT analyst
and former NBA player Charles Barkley
. In addition, as noted later in this article, ABC Sports
(after relying on hip-hop music early on) has used artists such as Rob Thomas
and Tom Petty
for the NBA Finals in recent years.
After a massive altercation between Indiana Pacers
players and Detroit Pistons
fans, the NBA came under severe criticism from the national and mainstream media. Commentators, and those familiar with the event outside the sports media, were divided over the issues of who should primarily be blamed for the incident. Anger and blame was placed on the players, at NBA Union Chief Billy Hunter, who protested the length of suspensions, the fans who sparked the melee and the referees who did not put a stop to it.
Many in the media viewed the brawl as a statement on the disconnect between primarily white fans and black players. USA Today
:
In the wake of the brawl, the NBA came under harsh scrutiny from some outlets. Noted conservative
radio personality (and former ESPN
NFL analyst) Rush Limbaugh
said the brawl was "hip-hop culture on parade" and also added the statement that "NBA uniforms are now in gang colors. They are in gang styles." NBA commissioner David Stern, in a 2006 interview, made this comment about the brawl-related criticism:
and Denver Nuggets
at Madison Square Garden
on December 16, 2006. This altercation was the most penalized on-court fight since the Pacers–Pistons brawl.
All ten players on the court at the time of the altercation were ejected, and seven players total were suspended. Carmelo Anthony
of the Nuggets was suspended for 15 games, while J.R. Smith
and Nate Robinson
were suspended for 10 games each. Neither coach was suspended; still, some believed that then-Knicks coach Isiah Thomas
should have been suspended for allegedly telling his players to foul any Nuggets player who attempted a dunk or layup. NBA Commissioner David Stern received criticism for not including Thomas in the suspensions http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16269796/. Some viewed Stern's leniency as evidence of a special relationship with Thomas.
Thomas was accused of trying to bring back the mentality of the late 1980s Detroit Pistons
, who were known for their physical play. Various columnists and observers found Thomas' actions inappropriate; before the fight, Thomas was seen warning Anthony not to go into the lane. ESPN analyst and former NBA player Greg Anthony
stated that "I never had a coach say that to an opponent ... I've had a coach say, do a better job protecting our territory. That's a little different."
The fight brought a large amount of media attention, and was a topic on mainstream news broadcasts, including World News with Charles Gibson
. Several columnists claimed that the NBA had been set back several years, and many used the fight as evidence of the league being a haven for thugs.
Knicks guard Steve Francis
noted that the media reaction to the fight and the suspensions itself were "racially motivated". Francis argued that MLB and the NHL had fights worse or equal to the Knicks/Nuggets altercation and rarely faced the type of media attention and scrutiny that the NBA received. Several columnists agreed, including Sam Smith (who called the coverage "racist and nonsense" in a piece), J. A. Adande
and David Aldridge
.
, Latrell Sprewell
was involved in arguably the most infamous incident in the NBA prior to the Pacers–Pistons brawl seven years later.
During a contentious practice, then-Golden State Warrior
Sprewell was involved in an altercation with head coach P.J. Carlesimo which eventually ended up in him choking his coach and threatening to kill him.
The incident brought mainstream attention, but not quite the amount of criticism of the league as a whole as later controversies would. While some wondered if Sprewell's actions were indicative of a growing trend in the league, others tempered that belief with the idea that it was an isolated incident. Then active player Buck Williams
said this on PBS
:
Sprewell would have his image redeemed somewhat after a run to the NBA Finals
with the New York Knicks in 1999. However, after a contentious battle with the Minnesota Timberwolves
over his salary in 2004, his image took another hit. Sprewell retired for good in 2005.
, the NBA was in the midst of creating a new collective bargaining agreement. One of the main topics of the deal was the league's desire to create a new age limit for players to enter the NBA Draft
.
The idea of an age limit had been talked about for several years, after the entrance into the league of several high school players. While several players who have entered the league out of high school have become successes (Kobe Bryant
, LeBron James
, Kevin Garnett
, Dwight Howard
, Amar'e Stoudemire, Jermaine O'Neal
, Tracy McGrady
, and decades ago, Shawn Kemp
and Moses Malone
), others have been relative failures (for example, Ndudi Ebi
, James Lang
, Kwame Brown
, Eddy Curry
, Robert Swift
). Those in favor of an age limit made the argument that players entering the league out of high school did not know the fundamentals of playing professional basketball and also were not mature enough to handle playing in the NBA.
Proponents of the age limit included Michael Wilbon
, who argued that it was important for young players to get an education. Wilbon's belief, while held by many, has also been referred to as "simplistic" and "[reflective] not just [of] hypocrisy but a reimagination of reality as well". Michael Mccann of the Mississippi College School of Law made this argument:
Greg Anthony was one prominent NBA personality against the age limit. Anthony's belief was that people should be able to make their own decisions about whether or not to enter the league, and that (quoting an article and not Anthony himself) "players from inner-city high schools aren't academically qualified for college because of the lower quality of education compared to their suburban counterparts" This led him into conflict with Wilbon and more notably with colleague Stephen A. Smith
. On an April 2005 edition of NBA Shootaround
, Anthony and Smith got into a heated debate about the age-limit. This came only days after Anthony was the primary interviewer in a discussion with Indiana Pacers
forward Jermaine O'Neal
.
The interview was described by Sports Illustrated writer Mark Bechtel as "...Greg Anthony putting words in O'Neal's mouth then saying something along the lines of, "Is that what you meant?" And then O'Neal would say, "Exactly." It came on the heels of O'Neal discussing the age limit in the context of race, and as he was in the midst of growing media attention and criticism.
As noted in the article The Real Color of Money: Controlling Black Bodies in the NBA by David Leonard, O'Neal was roundly attacked for his opinion, with many accusing him of playing the race card
and using his prior actions in Pacers–Pistons brawl as a reason to dismiss his claims.
With the agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, the age limit was put into place. Any person attempting to enter the NBA Draft must wait until the calendar year of his 19th birthday, and must also be at least one year out of high school.
, the NBA instituted a new rule regarding in-game player complaints. The "no tolerance rule", as it was referred to by players and the media, allowed referees to call technical fouls when players complained too vehemently about calls.
The season started with a spike in the number of technical fouls and ejections. There were "one-hundred-four technicals and seven ejections in the first fifty-one games," while "only seven games of the first fifty-one games thus far have had no technical fouls". Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, who would later be suspended for his participation in a fight later that year, was suspended on opening night of the season after two technical fouls.
Some observers viewed the rule as unfair and taking the passion out of the game; others believed that it only served to take pressure off of referees who made bad calls.
Others agreed with the rule, viewing it as a much needed policy to cut down on the "whining" by players in the league.
After the initial spike at the start of the season, the amount of technical fouls and ejections declined significantly towards the middle of the year. Several players, including Denver Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, were still ejected on technical fouls; Iverson's ejection came during his first game against his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers
, and he was later fined by the league for claiming that referee Steve Javie
ejected him on the basis of a feud the two supposedly had.
, every NBA Finals has involved at least one of the following teams: Boston Celtics
, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks
, Houston Rockets
, Los Angeles Lakers
, Miami Heat
, or San Antonio Spurs
. Additionally, in that span, every NBA Finals has involved at least one of the following nine players: Magic Johnson
, Larry Bird
, Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon
, Tim Duncan
, Dirk Nowitzki
, Dwyane Wade
or Kobe Bryant. Furthermore, from 1980-2010, at least one of the following 7 head coaches were involved in every Finals: Billy Cunningham
, Bill Fitch, Pat Riley
, Chuck Daly
, Phil Jackson
, Rudy Tomjanovich
, or Gregg Popovich
.
Many of these accusations are based on the premise that the NBA desires large markets and popular players for ratings purposes. Former CBS Sports
president Neal Pilson disputes the idea that matchups have the biggest effect on ratings:
against the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy
was fined a record amount for a coach, $100,000, for asserting that he had a source within the league who informed him that the referees were being instructed to call more fouls on Yao Ming
, due to protests by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban
.
between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, many Bulls fans felt that the referees were favoring the Celtics. In Game 5, Celtics guard Rajon Rondo
made hard contact with the face of Bulls' center Brad Miller
, with just 2 seconds left in overtime with the Celtics leading by two. Earlier in Game 5, Rondo tripped Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich
, forcing Hinrich to get stitches to close the resulting wounds from being tripped. The hit on Miller left him with a bleeding mouth, but because the foul was ruled a personal foul, Miller had to shoot the free throws, or he would not have been allowed to return, and the Celtics would pick the replacement shooter. Had the foul been ruled a flagrant
, the Bulls would have been able to pick the replacement shooter. Miller would miss the first free throw
, and then had to miss the second on purpose to give Bulls a chance to tie the game, but the free throw did not hit the rim and the Celtics got possession and ran out the clock. Rondo admitted after the game that he did not have a play on the ball.
In Game 6, near the end of the first quarter, Rondo threw Hinrich into the scorer's table in a fashion similar to Robert Horry
's body slam of Steve Nash
2 years earlier
. Rondo was assessed a flagrant 1, which allowed for him to stay in the game, rather than a flagrant 2 which would have meant an ejection (which was Horry's punishment for his similar foul). Furthermore, after both games, the league reviewed the incidents in question and decided not to suspend Rondo or upgrade the fouls, while Horry's body slam earned him a 2-game suspension. Meanwhile, Orlando Magic
center Dwight Howard
was suspended for Game 6 of the Magic's series vs. the Philadelphia 76ers after the league reviewed tape of him elbowing Sixers center Samuel Dalembert
in the head in Game 5. It was ruled a technical on the floor, but after review, the league upgraded the foul to a flagrant 2.
, the Milwaukee Bucks
played the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The small-market Bucks (who had not even been featured on NBC
that year prior to the second round of the Playoffs) did not have any "big-time" stars, with the exception of Ray Allen
(who, despite being popular, was not in the upper-echelon of NBA players in terms of endorsements). Their opponent that year, the 76ers had the polarizing and popular Allen Iverson, who had a multitude of shoe deals and mainstream recognition. The Sixers also featured that year's winners of the MVP award in Iverson, Defensive Player of the Year
award in Dikembe Mutumbo, Sixth Man of the Year
award in Aaron McKie
, and Coach of the Year
award in Larry Brown.
The series had several calls deemed dubious by the Bucks and their fans. Glenn Robinson
, Sam Cassell
and George Karl
joined Allen in complaining about the officiating and hinting that the league was against them. Karl and Allen were both fined for their comments. In Game 6 of the tensely-fought series, Bucks forward Scott Williams threw an elbow at Iverson and was subsequently suspended for the deciding Game 7. After the Bucks lost Game 7 on the road, Sports Illustrated
columnist Marty Burns
insinuated that the suspension may have been a form of payback by the league:
and Los Angeles Lakers was one of the most memorable in league history. The popular (though small-market) Kings led the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers three games to two heading into Game 6 at Staples Center
, a game which would prove to be the most infamous of the series. The game, which the Lakers won by four, featured several disputable calls, including a late game foul on Mike Bibby
--after he was bleeding from being elbowed in the nose by Kobe Bryant. This game was the epitome of the major issue in the series. Both teams complained about the officiating at different points in the series (the Kings in Game 6 and the Lakers in Games 2 and 5). Quoting then-ESPN basketball analyst David Aldridge
:
Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader
weighed in on the series, voicing his displeasure with the officiating:
The Kings would go on to lose Game 7 of the series at home. Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy
filed in court papers in 2008 said that Game 6 was fixed by the NBA. NBA Commissioner David Stern denies allegations against Donaghy. Lawrence Pedowitz, who led a review of the league's officiating following the outbreak of the scandal, concluded that, while Game 6 was poorly officiated, no concrete evidence existed of that game being fixed.
and Miami's Dwyane Wade.
With the series tied at two games apiece, Game 5 was pivotal. On the final possession in overtime, Wade received an inbounds pass from mid court. Because Wade had already been in the front court prior to the inbounds of the ball, some argue that he should have been ruled ineligible to receive the pass in the backcourt and the Heat should have been called for a backcourt violation. After receiving the ball, Wade went on to drive to the basket, drawing a foul on Nowitzki. Replays would reveal that Nowitzki barely touched Wade, further angering Mavericks fans. However, the replay also showed Mavericks' guard Devin Harris grabbing Wade's arm. In between Wade's free throws, Maverick Josh Howard
looked to coach Avery Johnson
to see if he wanted to call for time. Howard made a timeout gesture towards his coach; referee Joe Derosa saw and charged Dallas with their final timeout.
Without a timeout, the Mavericks were forced to inbound from full court after Wade hit his second free throw. Unable to get off a shot from inside of half court as time expired, the Mavericks lost the game and the series two nights later. Game 5 had 38 fouls called against the Mavericks with only 26 against the Heat. The Mavericks shot 25 free throws as the Heat shot 49. After Game 5, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban
was livid; he was quoted by The Miami Herald
as screaming at David Stern that "[his] league is rigged". Cuban denied that accusation, and went on to write:
Despite his denial, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the league, not for his alleged comments, but for general "acts of misconduct" following the game.
In Game 6, Wade shot a total of 25 free throws, equaling the entire Mavericks team total.
. Prior to that year, the team with the worst record in the NBA would get the first pick in the draft (as is done in the National Football League
).
The Golden State Warriors, which represent the San Francisco Bay Area
, finished with the worst record in the NBA during the 1984–85 season and would have had the first draft choice under the previous system. That year, Georgetown
center Patrick Ewing
was the favorite to be the number one pick in the draft. The large-market New York Knicks finished with the third-worst record in the league that season.
When the Knicks won the draft lottery, eventually drafting Ewing (who would become a legend on the team, leading the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1994
), many believed that it was because the league staged the result.
, NBC Sports
televised a substantial number of games featuring the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers. In the prime-time slot, from 5:30 p.m EST
to 8:00 p.m EST, NBC aired games almost exclusively featuring New York, Chicago or Los Angeles (incidentally, those three cities are the top three television markets in the United States, as they are the three most populous cities). Several fans and media analysts viewed this as favoritism, and fans of teams like the Houston Rockets
who, despite being a dominant team in the mid-1990s, winning the title in 1994 and 1995
, and featuring a superstar in Hakeem Olajuwon
, (and Houston being the USA's fourth most populous city), were not featured on NBC at the level of the other three teams, felt as if they were being snubbed.
The perceived bias could be explained by the fact that, from 1990 to 2002 (NBC's run of covering the NBA), the Bulls, Lakers and Knicks played in six, four and two NBA Finals
respectively, every Finals featuring one or more of those teams except 1995, except that the Rockets won the title in 1994 and 1995. Until 1998, the Chicago Bulls were a dominant team, and during the early-to-mid 1990s, the New York Knicks were also in the NBA's elite. From 1997 to 2002, the Los Angeles Lakers also joined the ranks of the best in the NBA. The teams' dominance, combined with the fact that they played in major media markets, led to their being featured more often than other teams.
. The microfiber ball replaced the previously used leather balls. The league claimed the new ball would provide better grip than the leather counterparts, especially when wet from player's sweat. Still the majority of players (notably Phoenix Suns
point guard Steve Nash
) expressed dislike for the new ball, saying among other things that it became slippery when wet, bounced awkwardly and gave players cuts.
The largest complaint came from the fact that players had not been consulted before the new ball was put into play. The NBA Players Association filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit against the league because of that fact, subsequently dropping it after the league announced that it would revert back to the leather balls starting on January 1, 2007. In a humorous move, the Washington Wizards
played a video on the Verizon Center
scoreboard welcoming back the "new old ball". Despite complaints, scoring and field goal percentage went up while the microfiber ball was used. Some individual players, however, including Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon and the then Seattle SuperSonics
guard Ray Allen, saw their usually high three-point shooting percentages decline.
A more rigorous study found that while shooting percentages did in fact increase, so did turnover rates.
In the aftermath, Commissioner Stern now says that players will have more input on future decisions.
of the Washington Wizards
had admitted to storing unloaded firearms in his locker at Verizon Center and had surrendered them to team security. In doing so, Arenas not only violated NBA rules against bringing firearms into an arena, but also violated D.C. ordinances as well. On January 1, 2010, it was also reported that Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton
had unloaded guns in the Wizards' locker room during a Christmas Eve argument regarding gambling debts. The D.C. Metropolitan Police and the U.S. Attorney
's office began investigating, and on January 14, 2010, Arenas was charged with carrying a pistol without a license, a violation of Washington D.C.'s gun-control laws. Arenas pleaded guilty on January 15 to the felony of carrying an unlicensed pistol outside a home or business. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 26.
On January 6, 2010, (his 28th birthday) the NBA suspended Arenas indefinitely without pay until its investigation was complete. NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement that "his ongoing conduct has led me to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game." By nearly all accounts, Stern felt compelled to act when Arenas' teammates surrounded him during pregame introductions prior to a game with the Philadelphia 76ers
and he pretended to shoot them with guns made from his fingers. The Wizards issued a statement of their own condemning the players' pregame stunt as "unacceptable." On January 27, 2010, Arenas and Crittenton were suspended for the rest of the season, after meeting with Stern.
On December 18, 2010, Arenas was traded to the Orlando Magic, ending a seven-year tenure in the nation's capital full of excitement and controversy.
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA) has faced a multitude of criticisms from both sports writers and fans.
Racial and cultural issues
Many have criticized the NBA for embracing the "hip hop cultureHip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
". While some observers have argued that this criticism has more to do with race than hip hop itself, it is a fact that the league is very much connected to the hip hop culture. Rappers Nelly
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is an Grammy Award winning American rapper and actor. He has performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in 2000 with his debut album...
and Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
have ownership stakes in NBA teams (the Charlotte Bobcats
Charlotte Bobcats
The Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA...
and New Jersey Nets
New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
respectively), and many artists have worn NBA throwback jerseys in music videos. In turn, the NBA plays rap and hip hop in arenas during games. NBA video games NBA 2K and NBA Live use hip hop in their soundtrack, and ABC
The NBA on ABC
ABC's coverage of the NBA on ESPN, known as NBA Sunday Showcase on ABC since 2010, is a weekly presentation of National Basketball Association games on ABC television network in the United States, replacing the NBA on NBC. NBA Sunday typically airs on afternoons at 1:00 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. ET...
–ESPN
The NBA on ESPN
The NBA on ESPN refers to the presentation of National Basketball Association games on the ESPN family of networks. The ESPN cable network first televised NBA games from 1983 to 1984, and has been airing games currently since the 2002–03 NBA season. ESPN2 began airing a limited schedule of NBA...
uses the music during its coverage. Players in the NBA have tried rap or hip hop themselves (Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
, Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
, Tony Parker
Tony Parker
William Anthony "Tony" Parker is a French professional basketball player who currently plays for the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA....
, Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson
Allen Ezail Iverson is an American professional basketball point guard and shooting guard. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1996–97 season...
, Chris Webber
Chris Webber
Mayce Edward Christopher "Chris" Webber, III , nicknamed C-Webb, is a retired American professional basketball player. He is a five-time NBA All-Star, a former All-NBA First Teamer, a former NBA Rookie of the Year, and a former #1 overall NBA Draftee...
, and Ron Artest are some examples) and several also dress and act in ways that are in accordance with the hip hop culture (for example, the tattoos and jewelry worn by several players).
Since 1998, the NBA's television ratings
National Basketball Association Nielsen ratings
The National Basketball Association achieved a rapid rise and fall in television ratings from the 1997–1998 NBA season, when ratings for the NBA Finals achieved a record high, to the 2002–2003 NBA season, when ratings for the same event hit an all-time record low. Blame for this rise and fall has...
have dropped considerably (some also attribute this is to Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
's retirement and the decline of the Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
), and criticism of the league has mounted to the point where some columnists have freely referred to players in the league as "thugs" in columns and referred to the league as "violent".
Some have argued that the criticism of the NBA is hypocritical, considering the relative lack of criticism of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
or National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
players. Some have also noticed that music genres and sports partnerships are not limited to the NBA, with the alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
genre being associated with the NHL, and country music being associated with NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
.
While some columnists believe that the criticism of the league is based largely in racial and generational stereotypes and biases, others believe that the NBA put itself in such a position by not distancing itself from the darker aspects of hip hop culture.
Dress code
Perhaps mainly because of the above mentioned criticism, the NBA instituted a dress codeNBA dress code
On October 17, 2005, National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern implemented a mandatory dress code for all NBA and NBA Development League players...
in 2005, banning all clothing associated with the hip hop culture. Players were instructed not to wear jewelry, throwback jerseys, headphones, indoor sunglasses and other accessories, and instead were told to wear "business casual" clothing. The dress code, characterized by some as "clearly and unapologetically directed toward suppressing hip-hop culture", was instantly controversial and a topic on many sports radio talk shows for several days. Many players objected, most notably Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson
Allen Ezail Iverson is an American professional basketball point guard and shooting guard. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1996–97 season...
, who has faced the brunt of most hip hop related NBA criticism.
Baggy shorts, also a symbol of hip hop culture, were banned by the league as well, which instituted a rule on the length of players' shorts while playing. Tights
Tights
Tights are a kind of cloth leg garment, most often sheathing the body from about the waist to the feet with a more or less tight fit, hence the name....
, which players started to wear under their shorts in the 2005–06 season
2005-06 NBA season
The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association. It began on November 1, 2005 and ran through April 19, 2006...
(though not a symbol of hip hop culture) were banned as well. No players were fined for dress code violations during the 2005-06 NBA season
2005-06 NBA season
The 2005–06 NBA season was the 60th season of the National Basketball Association. It began on November 1, 2005 and ran through April 19, 2006...
. The league has also attempted to severely distance itself from hip hop since the infamous Pacers–Pistons brawl in 2004; in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game
2005 NBA All-Star Game
The 2005 NBA All-Star Game was a major basketball game played on February 20, 2005 at Pepsi Center home of Denver Nuggets featuring the best players in the National Basketball Association as selected by fans and coaches....
, country music stars Big and Rich performed at halftime, a move that was ridiculed by TNT analyst
The NBA on TNT
The NBA on TNT is Turner Network Television's coverage of the National Basketball Association, produced by Turner Sports. TNT's basketball broadcasts, which include a weekly doubleheader known as TNT NBA Thursday, the Inside the NBA studio show, as well as playoff coverage, are perhaps that...
and former NBA player Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley
Charles Wade Barkley is a former American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominating power forwards...
. In addition, as noted later in this article, ABC Sports
The NBA on ABC
ABC's coverage of the NBA on ESPN, known as NBA Sunday Showcase on ABC since 2010, is a weekly presentation of National Basketball Association games on ABC television network in the United States, replacing the NBA on NBC. NBA Sunday typically airs on afternoons at 1:00 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. ET...
(after relying on hip-hop music early on) has used artists such as Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas (musician)
Robert Kelly "Rob" Thomas is an American rock recording artist and songwriter. He is the primary songwriter and lead singer of the band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also records and performs as a solo artist...
and Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
for the NBA Finals in recent years.
Pacers–Pistons brawl
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
players and Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
fans, the NBA came under severe criticism from the national and mainstream media. Commentators, and those familiar with the event outside the sports media, were divided over the issues of who should primarily be blamed for the incident. Anger and blame was placed on the players, at NBA Union Chief Billy Hunter, who protested the length of suspensions, the fans who sparked the melee and the referees who did not put a stop to it.
Many in the media viewed the brawl as a statement on the disconnect between primarily white fans and black players. USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
Ian O'Connor
Ian O'Connor is a sports columnist for ESPNNewYork.com, formerly of The Bergen Record and Foxsports.com, and author of a New York Times best seller, "Arnie & Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry."...
:
In the wake of the brawl, the NBA came under harsh scrutiny from some outlets. Noted conservative
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
radio personality (and former ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
NFL analyst) Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
said the brawl was "hip-hop culture on parade" and also added the statement that "NBA uniforms are now in gang colors. They are in gang styles." NBA commissioner David Stern, in a 2006 interview, made this comment about the brawl-related criticism:
Knicks–Nuggets brawl
The Knicks-Nuggets brawl was an on-court altercation at a NBA game between the New York KnicksNew York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
and Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
on December 16, 2006. This altercation was the most penalized on-court fight since the Pacers–Pistons brawl.
All ten players on the court at the time of the altercation were ejected, and seven players total were suspended. Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Kiyan Anthony , nicknamed "Melo", is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association...
of the Nuggets was suspended for 15 games, while J.R. Smith
J.R. Smith
Earl Smith III, known as J. R. Smith , is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in China...
and Nate Robinson
Nate Robinson
Nathaniel Cornelius Robinson is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder...
were suspended for 10 games each. Neither coach was suspended; still, some believed that then-Knicks coach Isiah Thomas
Isiah Thomas
Isiah Lord Thomas III , nicknamed "Zeke",is the men's basketball coach for the FIU Golden Panthers, and a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association from 1981 until 1994. He led the "Bad Boys" to the NBA...
should have been suspended for allegedly telling his players to foul any Nuggets player who attempted a dunk or layup. NBA Commissioner David Stern received criticism for not including Thomas in the suspensions http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16269796/. Some viewed Stern's leniency as evidence of a special relationship with Thomas.
Thomas was accused of trying to bring back the mentality of the late 1980s Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
, who were known for their physical play. Various columnists and observers found Thomas' actions inappropriate; before the fight, Thomas was seen warning Anthony not to go into the lane. ESPN analyst and former NBA player Greg Anthony
Greg Anthony
Gregory Carlton Anthony is an American former National Basketball Association basketball player and former personality on the ESPN family of networks. He is currently an analyst for CBS's college basketball coverage...
stated that "I never had a coach say that to an opponent ... I've had a coach say, do a better job protecting our territory. That's a little different."
The fight brought a large amount of media attention, and was a topic on mainstream news broadcasts, including World News with Charles Gibson
World News with Charles Gibson
ABC World News is the flagship daily evening program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting Company television network in the United States. Currently, the weekday editions are anchored by Diane Sawyer and the weekend editions are anchored by David Muir. The program has been...
. Several columnists claimed that the NBA had been set back several years, and many used the fight as evidence of the league being a haven for thugs.
Knicks guard Steve Francis
Steve Francis
Steven D'Shawn Francis is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association. He had also played for the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, and New York Knicks...
noted that the media reaction to the fight and the suspensions itself were "racially motivated". Francis argued that MLB and the NHL had fights worse or equal to the Knicks/Nuggets altercation and rarely faced the type of media attention and scrutiny that the NBA received. Several columnists agreed, including Sam Smith (who called the coverage "racist and nonsense" in a piece), J. A. Adande
J. A. Adande
Joshua Ade "J. A." Adande is an American sports columnist who covers the National Basketball Association for ESPN.com. He also serves as a panelist for ESPN's Around the Horn and as a guest host on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption television shows...
and David Aldridge
David Aldridge
David Aldridge is a reporter for the Turner television networks TNT, TBS and TBD.-Education and early career:...
.
Latrell Sprewell chokes coach
In 19971997-98 NBA season
The 1997–98 NBA season was the 52nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls winning their third straight championship and sixth in the last eight years, beating the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 in the 1998 NBA Finals...
, Latrell Sprewell
Latrell Sprewell
Latrell Fontaine Sprewell is a former American professional basketball player. During his time as a professional, Sprewell was named to the NBA All-Star game during four seasons, and played for the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks, and the Minnesota Timberwolves...
was involved in arguably the most infamous incident in the NBA prior to the Pacers–Pistons brawl seven years later.
During a contentious practice, then-Golden State Warrior
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
Sprewell was involved in an altercation with head coach P.J. Carlesimo which eventually ended up in him choking his coach and threatening to kill him.
The incident brought mainstream attention, but not quite the amount of criticism of the league as a whole as later controversies would. While some wondered if Sprewell's actions were indicative of a growing trend in the league, others tempered that belief with the idea that it was an isolated incident. Then active player Buck Williams
Buck Williams
Charles Linwood Williams , better known as "Buck", is a retired American professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers. He was well known for his rebounding ability and trademark goggles.Williams, 6 ft 8 in , ranks 13th all-time in NBA career rebounds...
said this on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
:
Sprewell would have his image redeemed somewhat after a run to the NBA Finals
1999 NBA Finals
The 1999 NBA Finals was the championship round of the shortened 1998–99 NBA season or the 1999 season. The San Antonio Spurs of the Western Conference took on the New York Knicks of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage...
with the New York Knicks in 1999. However, after a contentious battle with the Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Founded in 1989, the team is currently owned by Glen Taylor...
over his salary in 2004, his image took another hit. Sprewell retired for good in 2005.
Age limit
In 20052004-05 NBA season
The 2004–05 NBA season was the 59th season of the National Basketball Association . It began on November 2, 2004 and ended June 23, 2005. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs defeating defending champion Detroit Pistons 4–3 in the NBA Finals....
, the NBA was in the midst of creating a new collective bargaining agreement. One of the main topics of the deal was the league's desire to create a new age limit for players to enter the NBA Draft
NBA Draft
The NBA Draft is an annual event in which the thirty teams from the National Basketball Association can draft players who are eligible and wish to join the league. These players are usually amateur U.S. college basketball players, but international players are also eligible to be drafted...
.
The idea of an age limit had been talked about for several years, after the entrance into the league of several high school players. While several players who have entered the league out of high school have become successes (Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
, LeBron James
LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association . Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a...
, Kevin Garnett
Kevin Garnett
Kevin Maurice Garnett is an American professional basketball player who currently plays power forward for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association . After a high school basketball career at Farragut Career Academy which included winning a national player of the year award, he...
, Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard
Dwight David Howard is an American basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association . Howard, who usually plays center but can also play power forward, had an outstanding high school career at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy...
, Amar'e Stoudemire, Jermaine O'Neal
Jermaine O'Neal
Jermaine Lee O'Neal is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics. The 6 ft 11 in , 255 lb forward-center had a successful high school career and declared his eligibility for the 1996 NBA Draft straight out of high school...
, Tracy McGrady
Tracy McGrady
Tracy Lamar McGrady, Jr., is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Detroit Pistons.Entering the league after graduating from high school, McGrady eventually became a seven-time All-Star. He led the league in scoring in 2003 and 2004. He has also played for the Toronto...
, and decades ago, Shawn Kemp
Shawn Kemp
Shawn T. Kemp is a former American professional basketball player, who played in the National Basketball Association for 14 seasons. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and a three-time All-NBA Second Team member.-Early years:...
and Moses Malone
Moses Malone
Moses Eugene Malone is a retired American Hall of Fame basketball player who starred in both the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association...
), others have been relative failures (for example, Ndudi Ebi
Ndudi Ebi
Ndudi Hamani Ebi is a Nigerian-British professional basketball player who formerly played in the NBA.He committed to the University of Arizona, in the U.S., but reneged by making himself eligible for the NBA Draft...
, James Lang
James Lang (basketball)
James Lang is an American professional basketball player, formerly in the NBA for the Washington Wizards...
, Kwame Brown
Kwame Brown
Kwame James Brown is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Charlotte Bobcats. The , center was the 1st overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards, and was the first number one draft pick to be selected straight out of high school...
, Eddy Curry
Eddy Curry
Eddy Curry is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. He was born in Harvey, Illinois...
, Robert Swift
Robert Swift
Robert Swift is an American professional basketball player, currently playing for Tokyo Apache...
). Those in favor of an age limit made the argument that players entering the league out of high school did not know the fundamentals of playing professional basketball and also were not mature enough to handle playing in the NBA.
Proponents of the age limit included Michael Wilbon
Michael Wilbon
Michael Ray Wilbon is a former sportswriter and columnist for the Washington Post and current ESPN commentator. He serves as an analyst for ESPN and co-hosts Pardon the Interruption on ESPN with former Post writer Tony Kornheiser, and has been doing so since 2001.-Career:Wilbon began working for...
, who argued that it was important for young players to get an education. Wilbon's belief, while held by many, has also been referred to as "simplistic" and "[reflective] not just [of] hypocrisy but a reimagination of reality as well". Michael Mccann of the Mississippi College School of Law made this argument:
Greg Anthony was one prominent NBA personality against the age limit. Anthony's belief was that people should be able to make their own decisions about whether or not to enter the league, and that (quoting an article and not Anthony himself) "players from inner-city high schools aren't academically qualified for college because of the lower quality of education compared to their suburban counterparts" This led him into conflict with Wilbon and more notably with colleague Stephen A. Smith
Stephen A. Smith
-Early years:Smith was raised in the Hollis neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. He lived with his parents and four older sisters.He attended Winston-Salem State University, a historically black university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina...
. On an April 2005 edition of NBA Shootaround
NBA Shootaround
NBA Shootaround is a pregame show for ESPN's coverage of the National Basketball Association . Typically, the program airs at 7:30 p.m, prior to ESPN's presentation of NBA Friday, though it does occasionally air prior to ESPN's NBA Wednesday coverage...
, Anthony and Smith got into a heated debate about the age-limit. This came only days after Anthony was the primary interviewer in a discussion with Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
forward Jermaine O'Neal
Jermaine O'Neal
Jermaine Lee O'Neal is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics. The 6 ft 11 in , 255 lb forward-center had a successful high school career and declared his eligibility for the 1996 NBA Draft straight out of high school...
.
The interview was described by Sports Illustrated writer Mark Bechtel as "...Greg Anthony putting words in O'Neal's mouth then saying something along the lines of, "Is that what you meant?" And then O'Neal would say, "Exactly." It came on the heels of O'Neal discussing the age limit in the context of race, and as he was in the midst of growing media attention and criticism.
As noted in the article The Real Color of Money: Controlling Black Bodies in the NBA by David Leonard, O'Neal was roundly attacked for his opinion, with many accusing him of playing the race card
Race card
Playing the race card is an idiomatic phrase that refers to exploitation of either racist or anti-racist attitudes to gain a personal advantage, typically by falsely accusing others of racism against oneself.-Usage:...
and using his prior actions in Pacers–Pistons brawl as a reason to dismiss his claims.
With the agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, the age limit was put into place. Any person attempting to enter the NBA Draft must wait until the calendar year of his 19th birthday, and must also be at least one year out of high school.
No tolerance rule
At the start of the 2006-07 NBA season2006-07 NBA season
The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association. The regular season began on October 31, 2006 and ran through April 18, 2007. The league fielded 30 teams, each playing an 82 game regular season schedule. The top eight seeds from each conference reached the NBA...
, the NBA instituted a new rule regarding in-game player complaints. The "no tolerance rule", as it was referred to by players and the media, allowed referees to call technical fouls when players complained too vehemently about calls.
The season started with a spike in the number of technical fouls and ejections. There were "one-hundred-four technicals and seven ejections in the first fifty-one games," while "only seven games of the first fifty-one games thus far have had no technical fouls". Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, who would later be suspended for his participation in a fight later that year, was suspended on opening night of the season after two technical fouls.
Some observers viewed the rule as unfair and taking the passion out of the game; others believed that it only served to take pressure off of referees who made bad calls.
Others agreed with the rule, viewing it as a much needed policy to cut down on the "whining" by players in the league.
After the initial spike at the start of the season, the amount of technical fouls and ejections declined significantly towards the middle of the year. Several players, including Denver Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, were still ejected on technical fouls; Iverson's ejection came during his first game against his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
, and he was later fined by the league for claiming that referee Steve Javie
Steve Javie
Steve Javie is a retired American professional basketball referee who refereed in the National Basketball Association from the 1986–87 NBA season to the 2010–11 season. As of the beginning of the 2006–07 NBA season, Javie has officiated 1,264 regular season, 190 playoff, and 18 NBA Finals games...
ejected him on the basis of a feud the two supposedly had.
Conspiracy theories
Some NBA fans have accused the league of conspiring to have large-market teams and popular players succeed in the postseason. Since 19801980 NBA Finals
The 1980 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1979–80 NBA season.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the league's MVP. But midway through Game 5, the Laker center suffered a severely sprained ankle. He managed to come back in the game in the 4th quarter to lead the Lakers to victory...
, every NBA Finals has involved at least one of the following teams: Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
, Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
, Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, Miami Heat
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
, or San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
. Additionally, in that span, every NBA Finals has involved at least one of the following nine players: Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
, Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
, Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008,...
, Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan
Timothy Theodore "Tim" Duncan is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association . The 6-foot 11-inch , 255-pound power forward/center is a four-time NBA champion, two-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA Finals MVP, and NBA Rookie of the Year...
, Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk Werner Nowitzki is a German professional basketball player who plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association...
, Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. nicknamed Flash or D-Wade, is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat. Awarded 2006 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, Wade has established himself as one of the most well-known and popular players in the league...
or Kobe Bryant. Furthermore, from 1980-2010, at least one of the following 7 head coaches were involved in every Finals: Billy Cunningham
Billy Cunningham
William John "Billy" Cunningham is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid.- Beginnings :...
, Bill Fitch, Pat Riley
Pat Riley
Patrick James "Pat" Riley is an American professional basketball executive, and a retired coach and player in the NBA. Currently, he is team president of the Miami Heat. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams...
, Chuck Daly
Chuck Daly
Charles Jerome "Chuck" Daly was an American basketball head coach. He led the Detroit Pistons to consecutive National Basketball Association Championships in 1989 and 1990, and the Dream Team to the men's basketball gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He had a 14-year NBA coaching...
, Phil Jackson
Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson is a retired American professional basketball coach and player. Jackson is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association . His reputation was established as head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 through 1998;...
, Rudy Tomjanovich
Rudy Tomjanovich
Rudolph Tomjanovich, Jr. , nicknamed Rudy T., is an American retired basketball player and coach who coached the Houston Rockets to two consecutive NBA championships. He is currently a scout for the Los Angeles Lakers.-Early life:...
, or Gregg Popovich
Gregg Popovich
Gregg Popovich is an American basketball coach, and is currently the head coach of the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs. With the resignation of Jerry Sloan as head coach of the Utah Jazz on February 10, 2011, Popovich is the longest tenured coach in the NBA and also the...
.
Many of these accusations are based on the premise that the NBA desires large markets and popular players for ratings purposes. Former CBS Sports
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
president Neal Pilson disputes the idea that matchups have the biggest effect on ratings:
Accusation from Jeff Van Gundy
During a 2005 playoff series2005 NBA Playoffs
The 2005 NBA Playoffs was the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2004–05 season.The San Antonio Spurs, the number two ranked team in the Western Conference, won the 2005 NBA Playoffs by defeating the defending champions, the Detroit Pistons, 4-3 in the NBA Finals...
against the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy
Jeff Van Gundy
Jeffrey William "Jeff" Van Gundy is a former American basketball head coach. He coached most recently with the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets...
was fined a record amount for a coach, $100,000, for asserting that he had a source within the league who informed him that the referees were being instructed to call more fouls on Yao Ming
Yao Ming
Yao Ming is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association...
, due to protests by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is an American business magnate and investor. He is the owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, and the chairman of the HDTV cable network HDNet....
.
Bulls-Celtics 2009 Eastern Conference Quarter Finals
During a 2009 playoff series2009 NBA Playoffs
The 2009 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2008–09 season. The playoffs started on April 18, 2009 with ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV broadcasting the games in the United States...
between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, many Bulls fans felt that the referees were favoring the Celtics. In Game 5, Celtics guard Rajon Rondo
Rajon Rondo
Rajon Pierre Rondo is an American professional basketball player who plays point guard for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association . Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Rondo attended Eastern High School and Oak Hill Academy for his high-school basketball career, before receiving a...
made hard contact with the face of Bulls' center Brad Miller
Brad Miller (basketball)
Bradley Alan Miller is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA...
, with just 2 seconds left in overtime with the Celtics leading by two. Earlier in Game 5, Rondo tripped Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich
Kirk Hinrich
Kirk James Hinrich is an American professional basketball player, currently a guard for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. He has also been a member of the USA National Team....
, forcing Hinrich to get stitches to close the resulting wounds from being tripped. The hit on Miller left him with a bleeding mouth, but because the foul was ruled a personal foul, Miller had to shoot the free throws, or he would not have been allowed to return, and the Celtics would pick the replacement shooter. Had the foul been ruled a flagrant
Flagrant foul
A flagrant foul is a serious contact foul involving unnecessary, excessive, or intentional contact in sport. There is a specific National Basketball Association foul termed a flagrant foul.-NBA flagrant fouls:...
, the Bulls would have been able to pick the replacement shooter. Miller would miss the first free throw
Free throw
In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points from a restricted area on the court , and are generally awarded after a foul on the shooter by the opposing team...
, and then had to miss the second on purpose to give Bulls a chance to tie the game, but the free throw did not hit the rim and the Celtics got possession and ran out the clock. Rondo admitted after the game that he did not have a play on the ball.
In Game 6, near the end of the first quarter, Rondo threw Hinrich into the scorer's table in a fashion similar to Robert Horry
Robert Horry
Robert Keith Horry Jr. is a retired American basketball player and current sports commentator. He played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association , winning seven championships, the most of any player not to have played on the 1960s Boston Celtics...
's body slam of Steve Nash
Steve Nash
Stephen John "Steve" Nash, OC, OBC is a South African-born Canadian professional basketball player who plays point guard for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association . Nash enjoyed a successful high-school basketball career, and he was eventually given a scholarship by Santa Clara...
2 years earlier
2007 NBA Playoffs
The 2007 NBA Playoffs was the postseason to the National Basketball Association's 2006–2007 season.There were four rounds of postseason action, all of them in a best-of-seven format, with teams seeded on a bracket. The team with the better record wasn't necessarily the basis of seeding teams in...
. Rondo was assessed a flagrant 1, which allowed for him to stay in the game, rather than a flagrant 2 which would have meant an ejection (which was Horry's punishment for his similar foul). Furthermore, after both games, the league reviewed the incidents in question and decided not to suspend Rondo or upgrade the fouls, while Horry's body slam earned him a 2-game suspension. Meanwhile, Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
center Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard
Dwight David Howard is an American basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association . Howard, who usually plays center but can also play power forward, had an outstanding high school career at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy...
was suspended for Game 6 of the Magic's series vs. the Philadelphia 76ers after the league reviewed tape of him elbowing Sixers center Samuel Dalembert
Samuel Dalembert
Samuel Davis Dalembert is a Haitian Canadian professional basketball player who most recently played center for the NBA's Sacramento Kings. Dalembert began playing in Montreal, Quebec and played college basketball at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, United States...
in the head in Game 5. It was ruled a technical on the floor, but after review, the league upgraded the foul to a flagrant 2.
Bucks-Sixers 2001 Eastern Conference Finals
In 20012001 NBA Playoffs
The 2001 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2000–01 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers winning their second consecutive championship by defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers...
, the Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They are part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and currently plays at the Bradley Center....
played the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The small-market Bucks (who had not even been featured on NBC
The NBA on NBC
NBA on NBC was a weekly presentation of National Basketball Association games on the National Broadcasting Company television network from 1955 to 1962, and again from 1990 to 2002. The NBA on NBC succeeded the NBA on CBS...
that year prior to the second round of the Playoffs) did not have any "big-time" stars, with the exception of Ray Allen
Ray Allen
Walter Ray Allen is an American professional basketball player who is currently playing for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. He has played professionally for the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, and the Boston Celtics; and collegiately for the University of...
(who, despite being popular, was not in the upper-echelon of NBA players in terms of endorsements). Their opponent that year, the 76ers had the polarizing and popular Allen Iverson, who had a multitude of shoe deals and mainstream recognition. The Sixers also featured that year's winners of the MVP award in Iverson, Defensive Player of the Year
NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award
The National Basketball Association's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1982–83 NBA season, to the top defensive player of the regular season...
award in Dikembe Mutumbo, Sixth Man of the Year
NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award
The National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the league's most valuable player for his team coming off the bench as a substitute . A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters from throughout...
award in Aaron McKie
Aaron McKie
Aaron Fitzgerald McKie is an American former professional basketball player in the NBA and currently an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers...
, and Coach of the Year
NBA Coach of the Year Award
The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA Championships from 1956 to 1966...
award in Larry Brown.
The series had several calls deemed dubious by the Bucks and their fans. Glenn Robinson
Glenn Robinson
Glenn A. "Big Dog" Robinson is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA. He last played during the 2004–05 season.-Early life:...
, Sam Cassell
Sam Cassell
Samuel James "Sam" Cassell , is a retired American professional basketball player who is an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards. The , point guard was selected out of Florida State University by the Houston Rockets with the 24th overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft...
and George Karl
George Karl
George Matthew Karl is a former National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association player. He is the current head coach of the Denver Nuggets. On December 10, 2010 he became the seventh coach in NBA history to record 1,000 wins.-Biography:Karl was born in Penn Hills,...
joined Allen in complaining about the officiating and hinting that the league was against them. Karl and Allen were both fined for their comments. In Game 6 of the tensely-fought series, Bucks forward Scott Williams threw an elbow at Iverson and was subsequently suspended for the deciding Game 7. After the Bucks lost Game 7 on the road, Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
columnist Marty Burns
Marty Burns
Marty Burns, former child-star, general wise-ass and sometimes detective, is the fictional creation of Jay Russell. Marty made his debut in the novel Celestial Dogs , working as yet another low-rent, Los Angeles detective. The novel is a mix of hardboiled detective and supernatural horror, laced...
insinuated that the suspension may have been a form of payback by the league:
Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals
The 2002 Western Conference Final between the Sacramento KingsSacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
and Los Angeles Lakers was one of the most memorable in league history. The popular (though small-market) Kings led the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers three games to two heading into Game 6 at Staples Center
Staples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...
, a game which would prove to be the most infamous of the series. The game, which the Lakers won by four, featured several disputable calls, including a late game foul on Mike Bibby
Mike Bibby
Michael "Mike" Bibby is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He is a 6'2" point guard, and he attended Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Arizona and played collegiately at the University of Arizona. In...
--after he was bleeding from being elbowed in the nose by Kobe Bryant. This game was the epitome of the major issue in the series. Both teams complained about the officiating at different points in the series (the Kings in Game 6 and the Lakers in Games 2 and 5). Quoting then-ESPN basketball analyst David Aldridge
David Aldridge
David Aldridge is a reporter for the Turner television networks TNT, TBS and TBD.-Education and early career:...
:
Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
weighed in on the series, voicing his displeasure with the officiating:
The Kings would go on to lose Game 7 of the series at home. Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy
Tim Donaghy
Tim Donaghy is a former professional basketball referee who worked in the National Basketball Association for 13 seasons, from 1994 to 2007. During his career in the NBA, Donaghy officiated in 772 regular season games and 20 playoff games...
filed in court papers in 2008 said that Game 6 was fixed by the NBA. NBA Commissioner David Stern denies allegations against Donaghy. Lawrence Pedowitz, who led a review of the league's officiating following the outbreak of the scandal, concluded that, while Game 6 was poorly officiated, no concrete evidence existed of that game being fixed.
2006 NBA Finals - Dallas vs. Miami
The 2006 NBA Finals came the year after a series that saw the second-lowest ratings in NBA Finals history. After the small-market San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons slugged it out in a seven-game series, the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks battled in a series that featured Dallas' Dirk NowitzkiDirk Nowitzki
Dirk Werner Nowitzki is a German professional basketball player who plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association...
and Miami's Dwyane Wade.
With the series tied at two games apiece, Game 5 was pivotal. On the final possession in overtime, Wade received an inbounds pass from mid court. Because Wade had already been in the front court prior to the inbounds of the ball, some argue that he should have been ruled ineligible to receive the pass in the backcourt and the Heat should have been called for a backcourt violation. After receiving the ball, Wade went on to drive to the basket, drawing a foul on Nowitzki. Replays would reveal that Nowitzki barely touched Wade, further angering Mavericks fans. However, the replay also showed Mavericks' guard Devin Harris grabbing Wade's arm. In between Wade's free throws, Maverick Josh Howard
Josh Howard
Joshua Jay Howard is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the NBA's Washington Wizards. At and , he plays as a small forward.-High school:...
looked to coach Avery Johnson
Avery Johnson
Avery Johnson is a former American professional basketball player and current head coach of the National Basketball Association team New Jersey Nets. He has also coached the Dallas Mavericks, leading them to their first NBA Finals appearance and four consecutive 50+ win seasons...
to see if he wanted to call for time. Howard made a timeout gesture towards his coach; referee Joe Derosa saw and charged Dallas with their final timeout.
Without a timeout, the Mavericks were forced to inbound from full court after Wade hit his second free throw. Unable to get off a shot from inside of half court as time expired, the Mavericks lost the game and the series two nights later. Game 5 had 38 fouls called against the Mavericks with only 26 against the Heat. The Mavericks shot 25 free throws as the Heat shot 49. After Game 5, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is an American business magnate and investor. He is the owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, and the chairman of the HDTV cable network HDNet....
was livid; he was quoted by The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
as screaming at David Stern that "[his] league is rigged". Cuban denied that accusation, and went on to write:
Despite his denial, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the league, not for his alleged comments, but for general "acts of misconduct" following the game.
In Game 6, Wade shot a total of 25 free throws, equaling the entire Mavericks team total.
1985 NBA Draft
1985 was the first year of the NBA Draft LotteryNBA Draft Lottery
The NBA Draft Lottery is an annual event held by the National Basketball Association in which the teams who had missed the playoffs in the previous season, or teams who hold the draft rights of another team that missed the playoffs in the previous season, participate in a lottery process to...
. Prior to that year, the team with the worst record in the NBA would get the first pick in the draft (as is done in the National Football League
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
).
The Golden State Warriors, which represent the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, finished with the worst record in the NBA during the 1984–85 season and would have had the first draft choice under the previous system. That year, Georgetown
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
center Patrick Ewing
Patrick Ewing
Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and current assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic. He played most of his career with the NBA's New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly with the Seattle...
was the favorite to be the number one pick in the draft. The large-market New York Knicks finished with the third-worst record in the league that season.
When the Knicks won the draft lottery, eventually drafting Ewing (who would become a legend on the team, leading the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1994
1994 NBA Finals
The 1994 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1993–94 National Basketball Association season, featuring the Western Conference's Houston Rockets defeating the Eastern Conference's New York Knicks....
), many believed that it was because the league staged the result.
Accusations of network bias
During its twelve-year run of covering the NBAThe NBA on NBC
NBA on NBC was a weekly presentation of National Basketball Association games on the National Broadcasting Company television network from 1955 to 1962, and again from 1990 to 2002. The NBA on NBC succeeded the NBA on CBS...
, NBC Sports
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
televised a substantial number of games featuring the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers. In the prime-time slot, from 5:30 p.m EST
North American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
to 8:00 p.m EST, NBC aired games almost exclusively featuring New York, Chicago or Los Angeles (incidentally, those three cities are the top three television markets in the United States, as they are the three most populous cities). Several fans and media analysts viewed this as favoritism, and fans of teams like the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
who, despite being a dominant team in the mid-1990s, winning the title in 1994 and 1995
1995 NBA Finals
The 1995 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1994–95 NBA season. The series pitted the Orlando Magic against the Houston Rockets. The pre-series hype and build-up of the Finals was centered around the meeting of the two centers Shaquille O'Neal of the Magic and Hakeem Olajuwon of the Rockets...
, and featuring a superstar in Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008,...
, (and Houston being the USA's fourth most populous city), were not featured on NBC at the level of the other three teams, felt as if they were being snubbed.
The perceived bias could be explained by the fact that, from 1990 to 2002 (NBC's run of covering the NBA), the Bulls, Lakers and Knicks played in six, four and two NBA Finals
NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....
respectively, every Finals featuring one or more of those teams except 1995, except that the Rockets won the title in 1994 and 1995. Until 1998, the Chicago Bulls were a dominant team, and during the early-to-mid 1990s, the New York Knicks were also in the NBA's elite. From 1997 to 2002, the Los Angeles Lakers also joined the ranks of the best in the NBA. The teams' dominance, combined with the fact that they played in major media markets, led to their being featured more often than other teams.
New game ball
After the 2005–06 season, David Stern announced that the league would use a new microfiber ball for the 2006–07 season2006-07 NBA season
The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association. The regular season began on October 31, 2006 and ran through April 18, 2007. The league fielded 30 teams, each playing an 82 game regular season schedule. The top eight seeds from each conference reached the NBA...
. The microfiber ball replaced the previously used leather balls. The league claimed the new ball would provide better grip than the leather counterparts, especially when wet from player's sweat. Still the majority of players (notably Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
point guard Steve Nash
Steve Nash
Stephen John "Steve" Nash, OC, OBC is a South African-born Canadian professional basketball player who plays point guard for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association . Nash enjoyed a successful high-school basketball career, and he was eventually given a scholarship by Santa Clara...
) expressed dislike for the new ball, saying among other things that it became slippery when wet, bounced awkwardly and gave players cuts.
The largest complaint came from the fact that players had not been consulted before the new ball was put into play. The NBA Players Association filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit against the league because of that fact, subsequently dropping it after the league announced that it would revert back to the leather balls starting on January 1, 2007. In a humorous move, the Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
played a video on the Verizon Center
Verizon Center
Verizon Center is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C., USA, named after telecommunications sponsor Verizon Communications, and has been nicknamed the "Phone Booth" because of its association with telecommunications companies...
scoreboard welcoming back the "new old ball". Despite complaints, scoring and field goal percentage went up while the microfiber ball was used. Some individual players, however, including Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon and the then Seattle SuperSonics
Seattle SuperSonics
The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
guard Ray Allen, saw their usually high three-point shooting percentages decline.
A more rigorous study found that while shooting percentages did in fact increase, so did turnover rates.
In the aftermath, Commissioner Stern now says that players will have more input on future decisions.
Referee gambling scandal
In July 2007, it was reported that the FBI was investigating a referee, Tim Donaghy, for gambling on NBA games. In 2008, Donaghy plead guilty to two federal charges and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.Gilbert Arenas gun incident
On December 24, 2009, it was revealed that Gilbert ArenasGilbert Arenas
Gilbert Jay Arenas, Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association . He plays as a point guard and shooting guard....
of the Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
had admitted to storing unloaded firearms in his locker at Verizon Center and had surrendered them to team security. In doing so, Arenas not only violated NBA rules against bringing firearms into an arena, but also violated D.C. ordinances as well. On January 1, 2010, it was also reported that Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton
Javaris Crittenton
Javaris Cortez Crittenton is an American professional basketball player who has most recently played for the Dakota Wizards of the NBA D-League. He was previously the starting point guard for the Georgia Tech men's basketball team....
had unloaded guns in the Wizards' locker room during a Christmas Eve argument regarding gambling debts. The D.C. Metropolitan Police and the U.S. Attorney
United States Attorney for the District of Columbia
The United States Attorney for the District of Columbia is the United States Attorney responsible for representing the federal government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.Because unlike typical municipalities, Washington, D.C...
's office began investigating, and on January 14, 2010, Arenas was charged with carrying a pistol without a license, a violation of Washington D.C.'s gun-control laws. Arenas pleaded guilty on January 15 to the felony of carrying an unlicensed pistol outside a home or business. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 26.
On January 6, 2010, (his 28th birthday) the NBA suspended Arenas indefinitely without pay until its investigation was complete. NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement that "his ongoing conduct has led me to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game." By nearly all accounts, Stern felt compelled to act when Arenas' teammates surrounded him during pregame introductions prior to a game with the Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
and he pretended to shoot them with guns made from his fingers. The Wizards issued a statement of their own condemning the players' pregame stunt as "unacceptable." On January 27, 2010, Arenas and Crittenton were suspended for the rest of the season, after meeting with Stern.
On December 18, 2010, Arenas was traded to the Orlando Magic, ending a seven-year tenure in the nation's capital full of excitement and controversy.