Plaschke even resisted the temptation to fall for Phil Jackson’s finger pointing. He mentioned that Jackson was surprised that Bryant did not attempt one free throw, then he correctly reminded us that Kobe gets to the line when he drives to the basket, but on Thursday night he settled for jumpers, taking 11 3-pointers (making only 4.)
I would like to add that it’s easy to put all of the blame on Kobe, but Jackson should be blamed too. He gets a ton of credit when they win, and he should not escape blame when they lose.
Nice job today, Plaschke!
T.J. Simers was entertaining today. I don't agree with his premise, but it was entertaining, nonetheless. His beef was with NBA Commisioner David Stern, who is sick and tired of Phil Jackson whining and behaving like a pompous ass. Stern accused Jackson of not respecting the game. Simers accused Stern of not respecting Jackson. And I accuse Simers of being an unfunny oaf. Only an oaf would quote Khloe Kardashian-Odom in his column.
He goes on to accuse Stern of overreacting when he fined Jackson $35k for suggesting that Kevin Durant gets favorable calls. But it was a fair and just penalty. There is precedent that tells owners, coaches, and players that if you use the media to accuse the NBA of supporting any conspiracies you will be fined. He needed to tell Jackson that he can’t slander the integrity of this league, which has been so very good to Jackson for so many years, without expecting a punishment.
When it was first revealed that baseball had a serious problem with steroid use, too many of its insiders came forward and exposed its own cheating. That ruined the the credibility of the league, at least a little bit, forever. Everyone in baseball should have stopped talking to the media about it while the commissioner and his team cleaned up the problem behind the scenes. It would have saved their brand. Stern will not allow the same thing to happen with the perceived officiating "conspiracy" in basketball. A few years ago a NBA referee was exposed as a cheater. It was a nightmare for Stern, but it would only get worse if he allowed people like Jackson accuse the league of being corrupt whenever things did not go his way. Stern is absolutely doing the right thing by telling everyone that they will promote the league or they should find other employment. He won't let the NBA become MLB.
Oh, Simers, even when you are on the wrong side of a topic and fill your article with goofy references and corny jokes, you still make me happy. I’m not sure why. I just think that crazy people are entertaining.
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