Looney Silver

Has Adam Silver suffered so much brain damage? Serious question. Because he keeps hurting himself and the NBA.

Ratings haven't exactly been a strong point this season. The playoffs have seen some boost, but not anywhere that I think that they would like to see. One troubling concern as always is LeBron James. I think the commissioner is too afraid to speak out against him for some of his actions. There is also the double standard given James was at an outdoor event not long before the Lakers faced the Warriors. The league determined he didn't violate any COVID protocols. That's bad because other big name players have sat out because of violations. The babying of the top player is something Silver does not realize and also doesn't grasp why fans are tired of the bias and favoritism.

The next couple of things Silver wants to do is ridiculous. One is the idea of a mid season tournament. This was something talked about a couple years ago. Probably shelved because of the pandemic. With things going back to normal somewhat, the league wants to explore more into it with the tournament and possibly reduce the season to 78 games. How exactly will this improve the league if it were to be approved? Arenas don't want to lose revenue. Wear and tear is heading towards spoiled brat territory, barring injuries.  If this is for a ratings boost, this would fail. I can't imagine most players wanting this. Silver is out of touch with grasping new ideas.

This last one is not exactly ridiculous, but I have a bad feeling about it. There is a brand new league in Africa that just started play well over a week ago. Basketball is big in other parts of the world. Europe, obviously. Many countries have teams when the Olympics come about. It makes a lot of sense to have expansion. I just worry about the dangers of being in that region of the world and potential exploitation of players. Some desperation? I doubt it, but I'm not sure where Silver is going with this.

Silver has a bottom line to worry about, and I think he's running out of ideas on how to improve his league. He better hope the playoffs are rated higher compared to last year. Having the Knicks helps. Big match ups with teams like the Jazz and Bucks are always needed. But will it be enough to curb any bleeding? The next month will dictate the direction the NBA goes. 

NBA Circus

What Charles Barkley said back in July is the perfect response to all the pandering the NBA is doing. Guys like him and actor Terry Crews are not afraid to speak their mind and look at things from a different viewpoint and possibly one that a number of people agree with. The problem is this mob mentality that you have to be in support of garbage like Black Lives Matter. That you have to believe the same things LeBron James and others have to say. Going against the status quo of these players does not make you the bad guy unless you're being stupid on purpose.

Here's my issue with Black Lives Matter. It's not a good movement. Whatever message it had on police brutality is lost for good. The fighting with police does not make them better. Neither does the bad cops that give the good ones a bad rep. Now, people want a distraction. Sports is slowly coming back, but guys like Barkley don't like that politics is bleeding over into the sport he played for 15 years. BLM on the court, the various jerseys with messages on them, victims names. How is that solving systemic racism and police brutality? Are people going to remember those names in a year or two? This is how you lose viewers.

I also think Adam Silver is too gutless to intervene. I understand not wanting to be bullied by some of these players for fear of getting bashed on social media, but he has to take a stand sometime. He had opportunities to stop incidents, racism or not, but didn't. The only time I can think of is the Donald Sterling incident in 2014. It's one thing to have a voice and some freedom, but the problem is giving the players too much freedom without any consequences. There has to be some guidelines on how to act. The late David Stern would be rolling in his grave if he saw what was going on.

Along with the messages and victims, what does kneeling solve? It solves nothing. And Barkley went against the status quo that players shouldn't be vilified if they stand, which was met with tons of criticism and people of his own race bashing him along with some support. Both sides will be vilified. The question I would ask a lot of these players and coaches would be this; Do you believe in all this? Or are you falling in line because you don't want to get ridiculed and bashed by your own team? Because that stuff can happen in a locker room and it's something you won't hear on social media. I don't think anyone wants to be bullied by the long tenured veterans, so they will follow what everyone else is doing. And that brings a bad message in regards to the NBA.

I'd be curious to see how the ratings are throughout the next couple months. The numbers for the sport came back decent, but has dropped a little bit the last couple days. I'll assume anything below two million is mediocre. We should all strive to end racism and police brutality, but movements like Black Lives Matter are not doing any good. Add in the league's pandering to it, and it turns off potential viewers. Barkley is right. It is a circus. Very unfortunate to see the NBA like this. Not a good way at all to represent your league.

Spiked Dolan

The more and more these incidents happen, the more I wonder when the NBA's worthless commissioner Adam Silver will intervene. Would someone dying or getting injured cause him to intervene with the Knicks? This time, it wasn't a nobody that has issues with owner James Dolan. It was filmmaker Spike Lee, arguably one of the most famous fans of the team.

Trying to make sense of it, it feels like a mess. I guess from the story, Lee had gone through an area he has gone through to go to the court at Madison Square Garden. He got his ticket scanned, goes to an elevator, then someone tells him to get off. It becomes an issue with security, telling to go another way to the arena. Later on, there was a talk with Lee and Dolan. It's all jumbled, but you're mainly going to hear Lee talk since Dolan is very private about what he does. And supposedly, everything seemed good with the Knicks PR, but Lee doesn't think so.

I will not say all of this is on Dolan, because Lee can be a bit of a nut. It could be a ploy for attention, but who knows. Bad attention is still good to some, right? But with the owner's past of being a complete baby and an asshole towards fans, it's not a huge surprise. The "sell the team" fiasco happened back in January. Last year, he banned a fan. He has targeted fans and called them alcoholics. There is no professionalism from this silver spoon of a moron. If it was a recently struggling team, okay, but this team has suffered for 20 years.

What will it take for the NBA to get involved? They were quick to get involved with Donald Sterling and rightfully so. But they don't want to ruin ratings for New York. Forget the bottom line you want, Silver. You keep allowing Dolan to act really bad and the writing is on the wall of fans getting restless and tired of the product they see on the court and TV. Add in a disastrous public relations group and the last five years of belittling fans, there has to be motivation to intervene.

Stop being a turd, Silver. Overthrow Dolan and get someone that actually wants to own the Knicks and make them a winning team again. Because these incidents get louder and louder and you can't hide in your office, waiting for it to wither away. If you don't, there will be more and more of these kind of incidents and it will leave a stain on your legacy.

Sell it! 2020 Knick Dysfunction

You don't need to know basketball to know how bad the New York Knicks have been for 20 years. And Wednesday was the indicator to how tortured fans were. Elfrid Payton commits a hard foul on Memphis Grizzlie Jae Crowder as Crowder shoots an attempted three pointer with the Grizzles up by 18 with 50 seconds left in the game. It draws a scuffle and the fans chime in with chants of "sell the team" as it happens.

The epitome of embarrassment. And this was in front of owner James Dolan. He went after a teenager who was chanting. There was an apology on both sides, but that doesn't matter. Dolan's attitude is a disgrace. The fact that he avoids the media and tries to avoid angry fans, it doesn't magically disappear when you get to your big mansion. A number of NBA legends think removing him as owner would make the Knicks better. It's New York City. People want winners. About almost every team has had some form of success since 1999. Not this group.

It's why I think Adam Silver, the commissioner, has no spine. He puts no effort to punish Dolan because he's afraid of ratings plummeting in New York. The late David Stern would have done something to at least make them competent. How much more low does it need to be before intervening? The Oakley incident a few years ago, the fines over the last year. Silver needs to step in NOW! Otherwise, we'll keep watching the NBA's version of the Cleveland Browns.

Somebody fix them.

Shove It, Basketball!

I've had some time to reflect on what happened at Oracle Friday night. What happened was not necessary. Kyle Lowry getting shoved and insulted by Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens in Game 4 was not acceptable. I think the punishment fits the crime for the most part. A year ban from Warriors games and a 500 thousand dollar fine is fair. Maybe a tidbit harsh, but nothing that needs to added further.

What I don't get is some players insistence to punish Stevens even more. If he did more than the insults and shove, I would see a reason to have a more severe punishment. But it does raise concerns over player safety. Give Lowry credit, though. Unlike Russell Westbrook at times during his career, he didn't act like a cry baby and didn't let Stevens get into his head. This will be one of the uglier stains on a bad Finals for the Warriors unless they win the next three, which I seriously doubt they will.

Adam Silver should not be bullied by LeBron James and a few of the other players. He set the punishment. Let it be. There's no need to escalate it into something worse.

Early NBA Games? You Bet!

A lot of West Coast games typically start at 10, 10:30 P.M. at night for East Coast viewers. Obviously, a lot will turn off the set to go to sleep or work. Baseball, hockey, and basketball have that issue quite a bit. But Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, might persuade teams to move up times for the games.

I think it's smart. If it does happen, it could make people throughout the United States actually stay up to watch most of those games and see it end around 11:30, midnight compared to 12:30 or 1 in the morning. I'm assuming it is for regular season games, but I wish Silver could persuade networks to move up game times to 6 or 7 o'clock at night. No excuse for these playoff games to be on that late.

It's a small step, but a nice one. I think other sports leagues should look at changing game times if the NBA is real with this decision. It would make viewing games a lot better without feeling very tired with only five or six hours of sleep. Hopefully it makes ratings better.

New York Sports' Most Disgraceful

In terms of New York sports, there has been success in the last 25 years. The Yankees have won a handful of championships. Two stunning Super Bowls for the Giants. A Stanley Cup for the Rangers. They have their pros and cons every year, but they have put together groups that can win it all and it showed. With that comes the black sheep in the form of the Knicks, a team who, quite frankly, should be boycotted.

Since the start of the 2001 season, they have only been good for two years and at least four playoff appearances. Maybe five. Just about every year, it has been losing season after losing season. They've gone through so many coaches and general managers, it's a complete dysfunction. It's like watching the Cleveland Browns in basketball form. The fact that they are valued at four billion dollars is embarrassing. Sure, some of their players do decent, but as a whole, the chemistry just isn't there.

The front office ain't exactly good, either. Just the mere fact that they still have that stupid media policy. New York beat writers can't even do normal stuff without security and a PR guy being next to them. Interviews are next to impossible. You hear stories from guys like Daily News' writer Frank Isola where they get shunned due to how the Knicks run things. I'll chalk it up as owner James Dolan not wanting to hear any shred of criticism. You're going to get criticized. Michael Kay can criticize the Yankees and the YES Network is okay with that. What also doesn't help is their PR person, Jonathan Supranowitz. That guy tries to be secretive and also not allow any criticism.

Unfortunately, these morons in New York City will sell out Madison Square Garden just to see the Knicks lose over and over. Any other team would lose fans. And honestly, it's time to boycott them. They are a disgrace to New York sports, the NBA, basketball in general, and anybody that works in media. Fans who go to the games, stop going. Don't watch the games on MSG or any channel. Start telling people that Dolan and Supranowitz need to be stripped of their power. Get chickenshit commissioner Adam Silver to stop being a complete pussy and overthrow those two. And maybe things could be better. It is absolute torture to see a once delightful team keep finding ways to be a complete embarrassment in sports.

You're Not Special, LeBron James

You can thank the NBA for giving their league freedom to say whatever they want. Especially for silver spoon players like LeBron James. With the shooting at Parkland Florida, the Cavalier took his shots at President Trump, putting his hand into politics yet again. A Fox News anchor, Laura Ingraham blasted at James and added in a hashtag Shut up and Dribble. Of course, both sides are met with criticism with certain Hollywood people siding with James, and others siding Ingraham.

It is a little uncalled for on Ingraham's side, but she's right. Anybody who thinks this is a race issue needs to stop with that. James wants to be involved in some way. He's an attention whore. He wouldn't understand a thing about politics. He's no different than the average person when it comes to hot button issues. This guy is basically a loser with a high school education. People worship James, and it gets sickening when they believe every thing he does or says. If it were Gregg Popovich or Mark Cuban, or Kevin Durant, we'd be hearing the same thing from Ingraham about saying they should shut up.

It's sad that Adam Silver doesn't do anything to calm this stuff down. This is also the same guy that refused to punish New York Knicks owner James Dolan for his treatment towards disgruntled fans. Is the commissioner of the NBA too chicken or scared to do anything to these guys? They gotta have some restrictions at some point of what you can say. You represent the NBA, show a little respect.

On the other side, Ingraham seemed destined for attention. She could have gotten her point across without relying on a hashtag. Both of this stuff is heat of the moment. Lots of sports fans in support and hatred for James. Vice versa for the anchor. Hollywood dummies like Ellen Pompeo have spoken and said their word. It's a never ending cycle and it's going to keep happening.

I doubt Fox News will change what they do. Same with the NBA. Silver does need to put his foot down on this. There's a fine line between saying your opinion and getting involved in politics. He needs to quit wimping out and delivering punishments to non-NBA game related stuff. If he keeps allowing this, it's going to get much worse with how the players and coaches act when it comes to politics.

Dolan the Asshole

We go through another season of NBA Basketball and the New York Knicks have failed... again for the umpteenth time since 2001. They can never get themselves out of the cellar. Even with some of their big players, it's not enough to get even 40 wins. This year has been all kinds of embarrassment as they celebrated 70 years of basketball, which was when the NBA first started. Once again, owner James Dolan has found himself in the spotlight again, and the league will not do anything about it.

I'm sure some have heard about it already, but this past Tuesday, the Knicks faced the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. A lawyer, Mike Hamersky, was having a quick beer at a bar after getting off work. A season ticket holder, he saw Dolan heading out to a limousine and said he should sell the team, which sounds like something you would hear the last 10 year or so years. Dolan heard it, and went back to Hamersky to call him an asshole and put up some wild accusations. The pudgy owner confirmed the story on Deadspin and told his take on the story. He accused Hamersky of being an alcoholic and told his security crew to make sure he didn't get into the Garden. Supposedly, a security guy did follow Hamersky, and the Knicks PR put up a statement, possibly written by Dolan about what happened and their thoughts. Sadly, this situation is not without precedent.

Back in February, beloved Knick legend Charles Oakley was arrested after security had to drag him out of Madison Square Garden. Oakley has never been liked by Dolan as he is not invited to participate in the team's activities with former players. What happened two months ago is up for interpretation. Some could say Oak said a few negative things by Dolan, or Dolan wanted him out because of what would happen. A night or two after the incident, Dolan goes on The Michael Kay Show and puts up an accusation that Oakley had an alcohol problem. He would ban the former great from the arena, fire a head of security for the incident, and the PR group dug a deeper hole that really made the situation a lot worse. In the end, a lot of people stood up for Oak while Dolan got even more hated. There was a meeting between the two and the ban was lifted.

Two years ago, Dolan got sent an angry email from a Knicks fan that had grown up with the team since their early days in the 1950s. In response, he berated the fan and accused him of not only being an alcoholic, but that he had done nothing positive in life. From this past Tuesday and these two examples, the NBA did nothing. This is a big punch to the face for the league, and its sad that there is no intervention because of the way Dolan acts.

The owner has been one of the most controversial and most hated in the league since his daddy, Charles, gave him the team in 1999. From what I understand, he is a very private person. One of his policies on MSG channels is that you can't criticize the Knicks no matter what. Marv Albert would do that one time in 2004, and he's been working at TNT ever since because Dolan didn't want to hear negativity from one of the biggest play-by-play announcers in the NBA.  He fumbled a lot on Detroit Piston legend Isaiah Thomas, which ultimately led to a lawsuit between Thomas and Anucha Browne Sanders regarding sexual harassment. Sanders would win her suit. The way Dolan has handled Phil Jackson has been subpar. There's just a lot of bad things that have occurred.

I don't get why Dolan gets frustrated and says stupid things. The Knicks have been a poor representation of the NBA for the last 15 years. How is that not surprising when he sees fans act that way? When you're that bad for so long, of course the damn fans are going to say to sell the team. He lacks any sort of professionalism. He's never worked hard at getting anything. The same things that are heard every day are going to be that way until he either sells the team (which he probably won't) or passes away.

If he says something even more derogatory or racist, what is commissioner Adam Silver going to do? Give him a slap on the wrist? The foot has to come down eventually, even as all those idiots in Manhattan sell out Madison Square Garden every game. The NBA can't keep dodging this stuff. They have to eventually punish Dolan, whether it's a huge fine or getting rid of the team. If I was in charge, I would get rid of Dolan, his PR guy Jonathan Supranowitz, get rid of their media policy, and try to get someone that is basketball oriented to be the owner instead of a cable TV oriented owner.

Something has to happened soon. Stalling is only going to make things worse. If it doesn't, shame on Silver.

Check out some earlier NBA blogs:
http://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/03/tecmo-super-nba-basketball-sega-genesis.html
http://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/03/rest-sports-ultimate-decision.html