At long last, there is enough of a slight gap in my other pursuits for me to weigh in on the whole LeBron James situation.  And by “other pursuits”, I mean my day job, P90X (I’m in Week #3) and writing some technical articles to help support my revenue-generating activities.

So, why did I wait so long?  There is certainly no lack of people giving their two cents on the subject, and almost all of them have better credentials than myself (note that I did not say that they are more qualified – anyone that has read my stuff before knows the deal).  So, you knew that it was coming (my two cents, that is), and you knew that it was probably going to be a slightly different take.

If you are used to the same old shit, sorry.  That is not what we do here.  Just like Brett Favre throwing the ball to the wrong team, Peyton Manning doing anything to avoid any physical contact whatsoever and costing his team dearly by doing so even when big games are on the line, Pau Gasol or any nimrod from Duke flopping around like Serie A soccer players instead of playing tough defense, the French surrendering, and politicians being crooked…we like to take a slightly different angle on the sports stories of the day.  It’s our signature move; it’s what we do.

So, that bring us to the order of the day – what to make of this whole LeBron mess.  As a disclaimer, let me say that I have followed LeBron with great anticipation ever since he was in high school.  I have, like most of you, been completely impressed by his skill on the court, and equally intrigued by his boyish nature.  I am not one for pre-game theatrics normally, but I bought into it with LeBron.  He was just a kid having fun.

After this debacle, I will never have anything but disdain for LeBron.  I will call him The Jester every chance I get.  I was DVR-ing “The Decision”, or as it should be known,  the “Let’s Kick Cleveland in the Groin Just for the Hell of It” show.  I wanted to save it in digital form so I could play it for my son in a few years, when he was old enough to appreciate that fact that LeBron decided to forgo everything else that was less important and stay with is hometown team, earning a new level of respect to go along with everything else by which he has been blessed.  I stopped the recording midway through and erased it from my DVR.  I only wish I could use my TV remote to erase it from my memory.

So, I am done with LeBron.  You should know that going in.  Now let’s talk about respect, since that’s what really matters here.  Sure, other people have said that rings matter, and legacy matters, and money matters, and worldwide exposure matters, and blah, and blah, and blah.  Don’t believe any of that.  It’s about respect…or at least it is with real fans.

The premise of this article is that I wanted to take a tour through all of the players involved in this whole mess, give them a “Respect” grade before and after…kind of take a look at what this whole thing did to them, from a “Respect” standpoint. Everyone knows that LeBron hurt himself in this regard, but how did everyone else do?  So, let’s get started.

LeBron James

Twitter: @KingJames (Yes, this dude has so little class and so little concept of humility, history or his place in it that he actually refers to himself as “The King” frequently enough that he thought it was a good idea to do so in the name of his Twitter account.  Do you think Jordan ever called himself “His Airness”?)

Respect Grade (Before): B

Somehow, LeBron had a pretty good grade before this whole debacle.  I guess it’s understandable, I mean, he can run really fast and jump really high and do amazing things on a basketball court.  Plus, and everyone forgets this, he turned in one of the all-time great performances in NBA Playoff history, scoring 29 of his team’s last 30 points.  He did that when he was 22.  Of course, he has since turned into Peyton Manning in the playoffs.  The bigger the game, the better chance he will be just average.

Respect Grade (After): C-

What is there to say that hasn’t been said?  This was just the Exxon Valdez, in terms of what it did to the LeBron Respect-O-Meter.  Seriously, he has officially entered A-Rod territory.  Fans of his team will want him to succeed, and fans of every other team will want him to fail in the most humiliating way possible.  If he ever gets caught doing something dumb or runs afoul of the law, people will cheer out loud.  I am sure nothing like that will ever happen to LeBron. After all, he has the mental giants coming up on our list taking care of things.  What could possibly go wrong?

Maverick Carter

Twitter: Unknown

Respect Grade (Before): C

I am giving Mav a ‘C’ here, since he was never really respected, but merely worshipped as LeBron’s next-in-command.  Unfortunately, that kind of “respect” gets yanked out from under you at the first sign of trouble.  When you are just as responsible as anyone else for actually causing the trouble, well then you have something of a Respect-O-Meter freefall on your hands.

Respect Grade (After): D-

I really wanted to give Maverick an ‘F’ here, but I just couldn’t do it.  He got intellectually worked over by ESPN, Jim Gray, Joe the Plumber, and a couple of the “prop” kids at the Boys and Girls Club.  I actually feel sorry for the guy.  I mean, who knew that in the high-stakes world of NBA free agency that “street smarts”, especially if you think that by having them your are actually smart, were a detriment?  Oh, EVERYONE with an IQ above 40 knew that?  Oops.

Randy Mims and Richard Paul

Twitter: Who Cares?

Respect Grade (Before): C

Ancillary hero worship.  See entry above.

Respect Grade (After): C

Just another couple of “not so bright” dudes along for the ride.  Can’t really fault them.  Even if they are smart enough to have seen the writing on the wall, why would they choose this cauldron of high emotion to say something other than ‘YES’ to their meal ticket for the first time?

Dan Gilbert

Twitter: @cavsdan (verified)

Respect Grade (Before): C

This guy made his fortune in the mortgage business, which puts him one small step above the members of the Ravenite Social Club.  In fact, maybe we should give Mr. Gilbert a nice mafia name.  How about “Danny the Incompetent Greasy Slimeball Wuss that Sold Cavs Fans Down the River By Bowing Down Before One of His Employees”.  Yeah, that kind of has a nice ring to it, although as a Dan Gilbert descriptor, it seems like it might need an F-bomb or two.

Respect Grade (After): D

Everyone knows about the letter…and what Jesse Jackson (see below) had to say about it.  The letter and Jackson’s response were easily the two most despicable acts in this whole thing.  The only person in this whole sordid affair that owed anything to the Cavaliers fans was Dan Gilbert, and he let them down.  He shit the bed every day for years and years, never cleaned up the mess, and as soon as everyone saw and smelled the pile of shit, he blamed someone else.

Dwyane Wade

Twitter: @dwadeofficial (verified)

Respect Grade (Before): B+

A phenomenal player that, unlike his new team mate, seems to shine in the clutch.  It was not his fault that the David Stern instructed the refs that they would all be fired and replaced if Mark Cuban won a championship.  It is, however, his fault that he talked to his hand one time when he was en fuego.

Respect Grade (After): A-

D-Wade almost certainly was having inappropriate, if not outright illegal, conversations with LeBron and Chris Bosh prior to July 1, when he was still an employee of the Miami Heat.  However, he was able to talk all of these dudes into coming down to Miami to play ball with him and have a great time.  Wade is about to be divorced.  I think both James and Bosh are married.  All 3 will probably be divorced before they win a championship.  But the fact remains that Dwayne Wade made it all happen…sort of (see entry for Pat Riley below).

Chris Bosh

Twitter: @chrisbosh (verified)

Respect Grade (Before): B-

A great individual player that needed to leave Toronto.  If he was lucky, he was going to get to play with someone better than him, as he had proven that as the featured player, the best he can do is make you a lottery team.  LeBron James, at the age of 22, as the feature player, with a team every bit as bad as what Bosh had in Toronto, took the Cavs to the NBA finals.  There is the difference.  But the boy can still play some ball and seems to have a good head on his shoulders.

Respect Grade (After): B

Slight upgrade here for knowing his limitations and putting himself in the best possible position to not only build a legacy for himself, but also wreak a little havoc in the paint along the way.

Pat Riley

Twitter: Unknown

Respect Grade (Before): A+

NBA genius of the highest order.  He makes doormats into playoff teams, playoff teams into contenders, contenders into champions and champions into dynasties.  A+, man.  You can’t get better than that.

Respect Grade (After): A+

Big brass balls on Riles during this whole thing.  Showed up at LRMR with his 5 championship rings, showed them to LeBron and said “Do you want this?  If you do, there’s only one guy that can make it happen, and it’s the dude sitting across from you with sick amounts of cap space.”  I am not sure if there is, or ever has been, another NBA executive with the charisma to pull this off.  I thought about throwing another ‘+’ on the end of that A+, but screw him.  After all, he is the guy that made the NBA potentially not so fun to watch for 85% of the fans any more.

Chris Broussard

Twitter: @Chris_Broussard

Respect Grade (Before): B+

Chris has always been one of my favorite NBA guys on TV.  In fact, it is a shame that he works for ESPN, and that is one of the highest compliments I can pay to someone that works for ESPN.  His analysis has always been right on the money, and like most real fans with some knowledge, I know he is one of the best.

Respect Grade (After): A

Mr. Broussard seized his opportunity in the bright lights and crushed it.  What’s more, he did it through hard core analysis, unlike the dude next on our list.  As the grades will show, in this fan’s opinion, he has leapfrogged Ric Bucher on the Respect-O-Meter.  I am not sure if anyone else shares that opinion, and I don’t really care.  Broussard nailed it.  Every. Single. Time. For the whole 37 weeks that this thing dragged on.  Wait, it was only a couple of weeks?  Oh, I could have sworn that thing took the better part of a full year.

Ric Bucher

Twitter: @RicBucher

Respect Grade (Before): A

Bucher is one of the most respected NBA experts working today, and with good reason.  He not only almost always provides spot-on analysis but also frequently comes up with something that no one else has thought of before.  As that is what we have tried to do here at MackOnSports since Day One, it has earned Ric Bucher a special place in our heart.

Respect Grade (After): A-

Unlike Chris Broussard, Bucher used this opportunity to try and give us more than we ever wanted from him.  He kept on providing spot-on analysis, but he also took on an almost sinister persona – entertainer.  There are two basic problems with that: first, it is in violation of one of the cardinal rules…stick with what you know.  If you were any good as a joke writer (Dane Cook notwithstanding), you would be making a hell of a lot more money as a comedian than you are making as an NBA analyst for ESPN.  The second problem is that most of Bucher’s attempts at humor occurred on the Mike and Mike show, which means that the two Mikes were laughing like they were sitting in a sitcom audience and reacting to the flashing “LAUGHTER” sign, which kind of egged Bucher on.  Normally this would be a considerable slam, but I will give Bucher the benefit of the doubt.  Plus, he was working sleep deprived for most of this whole ordeal.

Bill Simmons

Twitter: @sportsguy33

Respect Grade (Before): A-

Always a solid effort from the Sports Guy and his columns and Tweets during this fiasco were up to his usual standards.

Respect Grade (After): A-

Simmons did nothing to improve or worsen his position here.  He is truly one of the only constants in an ever-changing world.  That is a good thing.

Jesse Jackson

Twitter: @RevJJackson (not verified)

Respect Grade (Before): B+

Reverend Jackson is one of the most dynamic leaders we have in the country.  His cause is just, and he almost always represents it well.  Although when he misses the target, it is never something a little off the wall…it is something batshit crazy.  He is still a national treasure.

Respect Grade (After): B-

This was one of Jesse’s batshit crazy moments.  He got lots of airtime for him and, ultimately, publicity for his cause.  He is still a national treasure.  The worst thing you can say about Jesse’s role in all this is that, because of his stature, it kind of forced folks to take a side, and some folks (like Mike Wilbon, see below) decided that they would rather appear batshit crazy than not.

Michael Wilbon

Twitter: @MichaelWilbon (not even making that one a link – dude has never tweeted, but has an account, presumably so people can tweet things at him and some minion can put the tweets on a teleprompter during PTI or something…good thing ESPN is not a bunch of money grubbing shysters that are so deep into the entertainment business that they have forgotten that they got their start in the sports business – sorry, little bit of a rant, there…)

Respect Grade (Before): A

Almost always provides good insight and analysis.  Plus, his restraint is truly amazing.  How else can you explain why he has not committed an on-air strangling of Tony Kornheiser?

Respect Grade (After): B

We are sometimes judged by the company we keep.  Jesse Jackson said one of the most batshit crazy, dead wrong, despicable, slanderous things he has ever said, and Wilbon agreed with him.  Sorry, that’s exactly what happened.  Forget about black and white…he agreed with one of the most egregious attacks on a human being in the mainstream press that we have seen in a long time.  Oh yeah, the attack was also baseless and without provocation.  If Wilbon was not the only one that ever asked LeBron, or anyone in his camp, a tough question throughout the whole ordeal, this grade would be a C-.

Jason Whitlock

Twitter: @WhitlockJason (Easily the most follow-worthy of all the Twitter accounts listed in this column)

Respect Grade (Before): B

J-Dub brings it on a regular basis.  He sometimes comes off as being controversial, but it never rings untrue.  If Whitlock is defending a position, it is because he believes in the position.  If it sells papers and garners clicks, great.  If not, who gives a shit?  Not Whitlock.  He is true to himself and true to his craft.  That’s what I like about him.

Respect Grade (After): A-

Whitlock absolute crushed Jesse Jackson…the only person I heard do it.  In fact, I have held back myself from what needs to be said about Jesse Jackson in this column, lest I be labeled a racist.  Jason Whitlock is an African-American, which made it OK for him to say what he said about Jesse Jackson.  You know what?  I think J-Dub would have brought the same thunder down on Jesse no matter what.  Now THAT is a sports writer, and someone I trust to give me what I need from a sports media outlet.  A far cry from what is constantly seeping out of Bristol and poisoning us all.

Stephen A. Smith

Twitter: @stephenasmith

Respect Grade (Before): B

Stephen A. has a great reputation in the industry.  I don’t like his approach.  I am completely convinced that he would rather take a controversial position that is not in his heart, and defend that position vociferously…all in the name of building his reputation and selling stuff.  The problem is that in that case, you are building a house on a foundation of bullshit and lies.  Anyway, Screamin’ A. Smith is not my cup of tea.  The day he lost his Indianapolis syndication was one of the happiest sports days of the past year for me that did not involve Brett Favre against New Orleans, Peyton Manning against New Orleans or Landon Donovan against Algeria.

Respect Grade (After): B

Coming up with a “No Change” grade for Stephen A. is kind of a rollercoaster ride.  So, here is my thought process.  The fact that he called D-Wade, LeBron and Bosh to Miami a “Done Deal” some time during the Nixon Administration shoots him straight up to a solid ‘A’ on the Respect-O-Meter.  No one else had the sources to back up a statement that bold that early.  The fact that he almost instantaneously started backpedaling and qualifying things drops that grade down to an A-.  The fact that he later acted as if his own doubt in his sources was something that never happened drops it down to a B+.  And lastly, the fact that he whined like a little bitch about the “hurtful” conduct of some of his contemporaries, when he himself had expressed doubt as well, drops it down to a B, which is where he started.  Truly a hypocritical performance exposing an essential weakness of character and conviction.  I wonder if that’s what he was shooting for…

Stuart Scott

Twitter: Unknown (Somehow, not being able to find this ass-clown on Twitter made my day – maybe he is too busy texting women that are not his wife)

Respect Grade (Before): D

Stu Scott is an absolute farce.  His act has almost leapfrogged Chris Berman’s act on the “All Time Most Tired and Played Out Things in the History of Sports Broadcasting” list.  Almost.  Plus, is there anything funnier than Stu’s NFL spots where he throws a football to someone off camera (pretty freaking funny) or catches a ball coming in from off-camera and tucks it like he is going to make a football more (absolutely hilarious).  Don Rickles is jealous of comedy this pure.  Vinko Bogataj (the “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” agony of defeat guy) in mid-helicopter, skis flailing, looked about 100 times more athletic than Stu Scott preparing to make his football move.

Respect Grade (After): D-

Stu Scott was the emcee of the studio show.  He had the opportunity to make a statement, ask an insightful question, do something other than be a stuffed shirt.  I hoped against hope that he wouldn’t let us all down…I hoped against hope that he would not “pull a Stu Scott”. Oh well…

Jim Gray

Twitter: Unknown (I was a little surprised that Jim Gray, after carving himself out another 3 minutes – see below – is not holding on for all he is worth in every media outlet possible…then again, a precursory search is all this guy deserved. He might have a Twitter account. I don’t know. I don’t care.)

Respect Grade (Before): D

After what Jim Gray did to Pete Rose at the 1999 MLB All-Star game, if I ever see him on the street, I will punch him right in the face and probably rip out his throat a la Swayze in Road House…or at least would have done so before I had kids.  A life sentence kind of puts a damper on spending quality time with your kinfolk.  Now, I would probably just hold his arms behind his back like Michael Corleone while everyone else in the immediate area throws haymakers at him.  In fact, I think so little of Jim Gray that I was not only shocked to find that he had not been run out of the industry entirely, but doubly shocked at how he was able to land this interview.

Respect Grade (After): C

When it came out that Jim Gray had much more of a hand in this than anyone realized, and that he might have actually pitched the idea to LeBron’s people with the caveat that he be prominently involved, I had a newfound respect for the man.  I mean, that took some serious initiative, right?  Of course, if LeBron had anyone on his team that was smart enough to come in out of the rain, this ploy never could have worked…but Gray absolutely saw his opportunity, thrust himself into the public eye, and snatched another 3 minutes of fame for himself.  I still want to throttle his narrow ass for what he did to Pete Rose, though.

Adrian Wojnarowski

Twitter: @WojYahooNBA

Respect Grade (Before): B+

Wojnarowski is one of the most respected NBA journalists out there right now.  I have always enjoyed his stuff.  He is kind of a cross between Whitlock and a Rhodes Scholar.  Everything he writes is from the heart, he never seems to be writing something he does not truly believe, and he is a master of research and fact-finding.  Truly a joy to read his stuff.

Respect Grade (After): A

Adrian was able, through the HUGE exposure of this whole things, coupled with the fact that he is an excellent writer and an even better journalist, to make an even bigger name for himself.  Every time he weighed in during this whole affair, it was always on point, and Twitter just blew up with everyone letting their followers know that they needed to head over to Yahoo! sports to read Woj’s latest.

Brian Windhorst

Twitter: @PDcavsinsider

Respect Grade (Before): B

Most people outside of Cleveland and/or NBA Insider circles (including yours truly) did not even know who this dude was.  As it turns out, he has been sharing great information about LeBron for a very long time and probably has more access to LeBron than anyone not shining LeBron’s shoes or bonking Delonte West.

Respect Grade (After): A

This dude was, at one point, thought to be a piece of furniture at LeBron’s house and/or the LRMR offices in downtown Cleveland.  Everything he wrote or Tweeted during this whole thing was right on, topical and definitely of interest…exactly what you would expect out of a very good beat writer for an NBA team.  The fact that it was LeBron James make it that much more pronounced.  You can tell this dude worked his ass off to make this happen, and I am happy for him.  I hope that he remembers that Stephen A. Smith got his start this way and does not turn into a blowhard that jocksniffs his guests and belittles his callers that sound like they are of a different race than himself.

William Wesley (Worldwide Wes)

Twitter: @william_wesley

Respect Grade (Before): B

Worldwide Wes has a level of access around elite basketball players that is absolutely astounding, despite having no discernable talent whatsoever, other than getting said access.  No one else has been able to do this with such efficiency.  He is to the NBA what Paris Hilton is to celebrity.  But you cannot for one second understate the fact that of everyone in LeBron’s inner circle, he is the only one that could have made something of himself without LeBron.  Sure, being just another remora feeding on LeBron’s scraps has made it much easier on Worlwide Wes, but he was always going to find his way to the limelight.

Respect Grade (After): D

Worldwide let himself be pushed to the background during this fiasco, and ended up kind of smelling like a rose, or at least it seemed that way.  Then again, if you smell like a stale fart, but you are surrounded by guys that just took a bath in raw sewage on national television, it’s kind of easy to be the pleasant smelling one.  Please, don’t follow this nimrod, but do click on the link above to check out his Twitter page.  He has never left LeBron’s side and is sending snarky Tweets sniping at all the “haters” that do not worship at the altar of LeBron.  His Twitter bio says “Mogul. That’s all you need to know.”  Yeah, he’s a douche.

Cavaliers Fans

Respect Grade (Before): B

I always have held a soft spot for Cleveland sports fans.  They are forever hounded by a series of moments that live in infamy and really make you feel their pain.  They have experienced losing on every level from being horrible for years on end, being thisclose to glory and seeing it snatched away, and having a greedy nimrod of an owner take one of their teams away.  Haven’t these poor people suffered enough?

Respect Grade (After): D

Despite all of the losing, I always thought that Cleveland fans knew their stuff, and that they were true fans of their teams.  The fact that they were burning LeBron James’ jersey and not a picture of Dan Gilbert tells me that they don’t know half of what I gave them credit for knowing.

——————————————

So, there it is.  One man’s opinion of what this whole mess did to the reputations of most of the folks involved.  Take it for what it’s worth.

Well so effing what?!?  In understand that some of the guys that have votes for these things have a vested interest in voting for “their guy” (more on that later), and there is inherently nothing wrong with that, especially in years where there is a bona fide competition for the MVP.

This year was not one of those years.  Anyone not voting for LeBron James this year is an absolute basketball moron, period.  The King put together a season this year that was one for the ages, and no one else was even close.   A voter not voting for LeBron opens himself up for justifiable criticism, but I would maintain that such criticism should approach professional censure, if not ostracism.

Here is the part that really gets me ticked off about these kind of things – everyone voting for this award (and just about all others in every major sport) works in and around the NBA, and should presumably know a little bit about the game. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the NBA and how things work over a long season should know that LeBron James was the MVP.  In fact, I would take that step further – anyone not voting for LeBron should have cast a huge doubt on his ability as a basketball person…or at the very least, some doubt about their ability to be objective.

Of the 7 first-place votes not garnered by LeBron: four went to Kevin Durant, a rising force that is possibly going to rewrite large sections of the record book before he is done, and is definitely going to win multiple MVP awards during his career, barring injury; and the other three votes went to Dwight Howard, a dominating force in the NBA right now, and the most dangerous big man since a young Shaq.  Durant and Howard cannot hold LeBron’s jock, in terms of being the Most Valuable Player in the league…not for one second combined.

Here is where it gets interesting – the three votes for Howard all came from the Orlando area.  Not surprising, I guess, but how about this – one of the guys (John Denton) works for orlandomagic.com, and another of them (David Steele) is an Orlando Magic team broadcaster.

If I was Richard DeVos or any of the other brass at the Magic, I would terminate those two nimrods with extreme prejudice.  They either know so little about basketball that they actually believe it the way they voted it, in which case they should be fired for gross incompetence – or they they are such homers that they cannot separate fact from fiction, in which case they should be fired for gross incompetence and locked up in a rubber room until they can differentiate between reality and fantasy.

What a shame that this kind of thing is allowed to happen.  I think it’s an indictment against the voting process itself that the guys that broadcast a team’s games and run a team’s web site have a vote at all, but if you are going to have that built into the process, you at least have to police these guys a little bit. 

Perhaps David Stern should step in and censure these two idiots.  Maybe in the future, folks would try to do their job the right way and vote for the most deserving player.

Then again, I still have a problem with Roberto Alomar having to wait an extra year to get into the baseball Hall of Fame, because (I guess) first-ballot Hall of Famers do not spit on umpires. 

When do you think one of these leagues is going to figure out how to have an awards voting process that doesn’t suck?  I am putting the over/under at “not in my lifetime”.

- Kevin Garnett setting about 57,439 moving screens in last year’s Championship run for the Celtics.

- “Big Baby” Davis somehow getting the same treatment, which is probably even a more shameless favoring of the Celtics by the refs because Davis is a load and knows how to throw his weight around and has no problem doing so with impunity during this series against the Bulls.

- Derrick Rose getting very clearly fouled on 7 consecutive possessions in the 4th quarter of Game 5 with only 2 foul calls taking place.  I know that the guy is a rookie, and I know that the Celtics winning the series could mean more money for the league, but do they have to make it so obvious?  This fact probably has me even madder than the Rondo-Miller play (see below) because if the refs would have called those 7 Bulls possessions according to the rules, then the Bulls had about a 80% chance of winning the game in regulation…not to mention Vinny Del Negro would not have panicked and would have kept giving Rose the ball every possession instead of Ben Gordon, who was still special, but you could tell he was feeling the effects of the hamstring strain he suffered in Game 4.  Rose, on the other hand, was able to get to the rim against any 2 Celtics defenders seemingly any time he wanted.  Granted, if I were Vinny Del Negro, and they were hacking the stuffing out of my rookie point guard like that at the end of the game and not getting called for it, I might have started to explore other options as well.

- Ray Allen getting a foul called on him for lowering his shoulder and trying to bully his way through a screen, then acting like the Bulls player (Brad Miller) initiated the contact.  This play looked even worse because Miller was kind of throwing Allen around like a rag doll by the end of the play.  It was, without a question, a very easy call for the officials to make…just like the ticky-tacky foul Ray-Ray committed on Ben Gordon that he whined to the refs about for at least 5 minutes.  Dude, you get 6 fouls, and you used them all…sit down and let the guys with enough discipline to play within the rules continue the game.

- The refs “missing” a fragrant foul call by Rajon Rondo against Brad Miller at the end of the OT in Game 5.  I will admit that calling this a regular old foul was an understandable call, as it happened in real time…but there was ample opportunity for the refs to look at the play and get it right, as Miller was trying to literally stop the bleeding on the Bulls bench.  There was even a question as to whether or not there was goaltending on the play, so you know damn well that the refs watched the play at least a couple of times, saw that Rondo was very clearly headhunting, as Miller’s arm was completely outstretched with the ball in it when Rondo smacked him in the face.  Here’s what else you have to know, if you either live more than 50 miles outside of New England and/or have an IQ above 80 – the refs absolutely, without question, had to make a conscious decision that, despite what they saw on the replay, they were not going to call a flagrant foul on the most important play of the game, even though that flagrant foul was probably one of the easiest flagrant fouls to call in the entire time that the league has had a flagrant foul rule.  If the replay is not enough for you, how about just looking at the dude’s busted grill?  For whatever reason (as if we don’t already know), the refs decided to ignore the rule in this particular case.

So, is there anything that can be done about this, other than bitching and moaning?  Well, I am not sure you will ever be able to get rid of the fact that smaller players usually get carte blanche to beat up on guys, even other smaller players (see Bowen, Bruce for more info)…and the refs seem to look the other way even more when you have a little guy going up against a big guy.  But that does not mean that the league is powerless in this case.

The league is probably the only entity that can right this ship.  The refs awarded a game of this series to the Boston Celtics unfairly.  The league can award Game 6 to the Chicago Bulls.  I know that we are talking about the No Balls Association here, but they would be well within their rights to suspend Rajon Rondo for Game 6, right?  I mean, he did commit a violent act of whaling on a defenseless shooter’s face during a league-sanctioned contest, right?  What’s wrong with taking away Boston’s most important player for Game 6?  A tooth for a tooth (pardon the pun) is what I say.

I, for one, do not think that David Stern has the balls, but that is basically all that is required here – a little testicular fortitude on the part of the commissioner to right a very clear, and very easy to fix, wrong perpetrated against one of its proud franchises by the refs…assuming that the refs did not make their decision because they have been under orders to favor the Celtics, Lakers and Cavaliers at all costs since October.  I mean, all of the ref problems are fixed after the league hired that military dude, right?

So, without further ado, here are the random thoughts from the end of Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

• James Posey.  Watching James Posey commit a foul after the whistle on almost every play was really wearing me thin.  Jeff Van Gundy summed it up best…he’s the kind of guy you want on your team, but every other team hates him.  Move over Bruce Bowen — there is a new queen punk bitch in the NBA.  Although Posey actually brings something else to the table, unlike Bowen himself.
• All Praise Big Baby.  I was struck by one thing above everything else…a dude with the nickname Big Baby was the only player on the Celtics with any class down the stretch, although even he could not resist one punctuation dunk.  The rest of the scrubs at the end of the game were launching threes and trying to set up alley-oops (were you surprised…remember that Doc Rivers is still the coach), but not Big Baby.  For the most part, he was making the extra pass and trying to use as much clock as possible…kind of like a good basketball player that has a little class.
• Joey Crawford is a dick.  What else can you say?  When we will finally be rid of him?
• KG’s Moving Screens.  This is one of the things that I will remember the most from this Finals.  KG pretty much committed a foul on every single offensive possession, and he got called for ONE illegal screen for the whole series.  Granted, with the amount of heart that Kobe and the Lakers showed, it would not have made a difference, but it would have been nice to at least have a few of those moving screens called.
• Paul Pierce Dousing Doc Rivers with Gatorade.  No other player on any other winning basketball team in history has done anything that stupid at the end of the game.  Seriously, how rock freaking dumb do you have to be to even consider doing that at a basketball game?
• Kendrick Perkins Holding His Son.  Just when you thought that the Celtics’ stupidity and lack of professionalism could reach no greater heights, we had Perkins holding his son on the sidelines of an NBA game in progress.  How special do you think the Celtics moment would have been if a basketball or a player went into the sidelines at a high rate of speed and seriously injured that kid?  Man, that is quite a bunch of professionals they have there on the Boston Celtics.
• Paul Pierce and Doc Rivers Went Looking for the Lakers.  After the final whistle, while KG was trying to get some alone time with the camera so he could suck face with the Celtics logo at center court, and while every single other member of the Celtics was running around acting like a bunch of recent parolees, Paul Pierce and Doc Rivers went looking for the Lakers players and coaches to shake their hands and congratulate them on a great year.  I am very conflicted that the two main players in the Gatorade incident were the only two Celtics that displayed any redeeming qualities whatsoever immediately after the game.
• Kevin Garnett is the Craziest Dude in the World.  And he doesn’t care if we know it.  His emotion at the end of the game was touching at first, and then I slowly started to realize that this was what was happening in that dude’s brain…just all of the emotions and slogans and buzzword coming all at once…anything is possible…I love my mom…I can’t believe that former Celtic Kevin McHale traded me here for 23 cents on the dollar…etc…etc…and his brain could not handle or process it.  Somehow, through all of the uncomfortable realization of “I am in KG’s mind and I want to get the hell out, right now”, he remained engaging.
• KG and Bill Russell.  I hate everything about the Celtics.  They disgust me in every way.  I did not have a single beer in me at the end of Game 6.  When KG said “I hope I made you proud, Bill”, it was a bit dusty in the Mack house.
• The Celtics Boo the Commish.  Did you expect any better from Celtics fans?  The guy is trying to present your team with the championship trophy, and you are booing him.  Granted, I am not sure how you could not boo him for the fact that without steroids or a work stoppage, he has somehow created a black cloud over his league.  What a mook.
• Stern is the Champeen. David Stern said the word “Champeen” twice in 15 seconds.  I have never heard a lawyer sound so stupid that was not in court or on the courthouse steps.  Amazing.
• The Celtics Fans Boo the Commish Again.  And he is so out of touch that he thought they were saying “Trooooooooth” as a tribute to Paul Pierce. 
• Final Thought.  Kobe Bryant is no MJ…he is not even AI.  If Kobe Bryant would have made a conscious effort to take the ball into traffic and take a beating, like Allen Iverson did during his years in Philly, the Lakers would have had a pretty good chance to win the series…probably without a lot of trouble.  Not only did Kobe not want to take the punishment, he shied away from critical moments and put the ball in the hands of lesser players than himself.  But at least he made sure that he gave the Lakers fans what he thought was important…closeups of his wife and daughters after every home game.  Yeah, that sounds like an MVP to me.

Man, that game was something.  It was, without a doubt, one of the most dramatic moments I have seen in sports.  Couple that with Tyree’s catch and Kansas-Memphis…and I am done for 2008.  I can’t take any more.  What a year it has been…and it’s not even half over yet.

So, let me take a little time and explain why Game 4, despite all of the drama, proves once and for all that the NBA is not legit and the fix is on. 

But, before I do that, I need to digress for one minute.  Bill Simmons, one of my favorite sports writers of all time, wrote a game diary for Game 4.  As usual, his typically rabid and overly dramatic Boston fanhood comes shining through…it is why lots of people (including me) love to read his stuff.  He is not ashamed to be a fan first and a writer second. 

As for myself, I did something similar for Game 3.  Of course, I could not in good conscience call it a “diary”, since I have a 4-year-old daughter that has one of those.  Instead, I decided to call it a “running commentary”…kind of a snooty term for it, but I thought “game log” sounded too informal.

Anyway, I only bring it up for one reason…mine is better.  As in, WAY better.  I am no Bill Simmons…not even close.  I am a Microsoft SharePoint consultant that just started my own business delivering geek-for-hire services, and I like to play around with MackOnSports in my spare time.  Simmons turns out one amazing piece after another, and I someday aspire to a mere fraction of his greatness…but for one week in June, I own Bill Simmons.  And it feels pretty damn good.

You be the judge:

Mack’s Game 3 Running Commentary

Simmons’ Game 4 Running Diary

OK — let’s get back to the original point.  Game 4 proved to me, without a doubt, that the fix is definitely on in the NBA and David Stern has his sleazy lawyer mitts all over everything.

Game 4 was, in the opinion of just about everyone, a “straight game.”  What that means, in the context of June 2008 for the NBA, is that the number of fouls called on and free throws attempted by each team were almost identical.  So everyone assumes that the refs were just doing their job without instructions from the league, which has been readily apparent in other games in this NBA Finals, and just about every significant game I can remember over the past decade or so.  Well, let me be the first to say it…Everyone is wrong.

Just because the game was called in such a manner that the fouls called were even between the two teams does not mean that it should have been called even, or that those calls were in keeping with what was happening on the court over the course of that game.  I counted no less than 8 non-called Celtic fouls in the first half.  But, the Lakers appeared to be running away with the game at that time, so it seemed that the refs made a conscious effort to let a little more contact go by without a whistle.

All of that kind of played into exactly what the NBA needed — a “straight game.”  Then, the Celtics decided to make a great comeback   the Lakers decided to lay down like a bunch of sissies and not only was it a straight game, so people would not talk about the refs for a night or two, it was also dramatic as hell, which put Donaghy even further from everyone’s mind.

Holy f*ck…Game 5 is on in the background, and I just saw the biggest bush league play I have ever seen in my life.  Radmanovich had a wide open three and some sackless wonder on the Celtics bench was jumping up and clapping about 3 feet behind Radmanovich, trying to distract him.  ABC is not showing the replay…I want to see who it was, so I will know who to hate.  Well, I am a Sixers fan, through and through, so whoever that nimrod is, I hope he contracts a flesh-eating bacteria from the $10 gigolo he hired last night and gives it to all his teammates and Doc Rivers during their team sexcapade on the flight back to Boston for Game 6…I feel that way about him just because he wears that disgusting green jersey.  But if I can find out who he is, then I can really hate him.

Anyway, am I the only one who thought it was just a bit curious that the one time when the NBA needed a “straight game” more than anything else, they got it…especially when the run of play should have dictated a huge discrepancy in favor of the home team?  How the hell can we do no better than this — Stern is dirty, Selig is retarded, Bettman is clueless, and Goodell has screwed up everything he has touched so far.

I would rather have 100 retarded, clueless screwups before I have to deal with another David Stern.  Can we please just get rid of him already?  Can’t the great grandson of Dr. Naismith just kill Stern in his sleep and put all of us out of our misery?