The officiating was obviously the hot button issue after the Nuggets were beaten by the Lakers at home last Sunday night. I have been nothing but critical of the NBA, it’s horrendous officiating and David Stern’s refusal to do anything about it. My usual refrain about the refs was this: the refs are either incompetent or are being told to call the game a certain way. But whether they’re crooked or just plain bad at their jobs, I’ve realized something after that latest Nuggets loss: It’s never going to change.
And to complain about it at this point is like a golfer blaming the wind for his bad round. The golfer knew it was windy and if they had changed their approach based on the conditions, they may have had a better outcome. If you go to the post office and you get upset at the long line, you weren’t being very honest with your expectations. The same goes with the NBA.
The NBA is fixed. The referees have a mandate to call a close game in favor of the super stars. It’s been that way for a long time and despite the many heartfelt objections to this reality, David Stern has not seen fit to change a thing. That’s fine, but it turns off many people to the league. But if you enjoy the NBA, you take the weighted officiating and deal with it.
A team like the Denver Nuggets don’t have the luxury of getting the superstar calls. Even when Carmelo Anthony wore the Blue and Yellow, he didn’t get his way against the Kobe Bryants of the world. And when you don’t have the benefit of getting the call in a crucial situation, you don’t get very far in the playoffs.
So the only thing a team like the Nuggets can do is play better. That’s it. If they played better the other night, they would have won that game and gone back to LA tied for the series. When you accept that someone else holds your fate in your hands, you’ve sacrificed your choice to win. That’s not only a recipe for disaster in the NBA, but it’s plainly un-American. The attitude that we’re being held back by someone else and refusing to take control of our destiny is ruining this country and making basketball fans insufferable. I scoff at the cries of socialism you hear from right wing wankers these days, but if you want David Stern to be equitable and make sure everyone gets the same chance despite their non-superstar status, then you may just support Communism.
So as we watch this possible elimination game in
