NBA Mid-Life Crisis

For a couple of hours yesterday, we got to give Kobe some shine for going for 52 and have fun playing our familiar Kobe hater/Kobe lover roles.

For a few minutes, we got to mock Nate Robinson for catching nothing but rim on his dunk on the wide open court.

For a few seconds every single day, we get to smirk on the inside at the continuing deterioration of former BFF's Isaiah Thomas' and Stephon Marbury's relationship.

And every now and again, somebody remembers that the Utah Jazz are the best team in basketball right now.

All of the above are legitimate basketball stories.

But for the most part, the NBA has been largely about administrative drama for the last couple of seasons. This season alone has brought us Rasheed-gate, Headband-gate, Ball-gate and even Orange Roundie-gate. And it's barely been two months. No wonder Shaq is staying home.

Now the latest drama is that the players are going to sue the NBA for unfair labor practices. Please. They brought it on themselves.

But I have to ask, where is David Stern? Is he okay? Has anybody in the office talked to him? He seems to be off his game lately. Does he have issues? Is he broken hearted? Is a close friend or family member sick? Is he spending all of his free time leaving comments on sports blogs like me? He is clearly distracted.

Mark Cuban was on PTI yesterday and he said that he hasn't talked to David Stern in quite a while. In fact, David Stern won't even return his e-mails anymore. What??!! David Stern is the commissioner and Cuban is one of the most important owners in the league and they don't have a relationship. I can understand that they may not be the best of friends, but how can you not maintain a professional relationship? How will Mark Cuban graduate from David Stern University without his sage professor? Unbelievable.

Not to mention that Stern has done little to diffuse the stories surrounding Rasheed-gate, ball-gate (has he ever stated his reasoning for the change?) or headband-gate (it might not have been a big a deal as it was made out to be). No word yet if Stern will comment on Orange Roundie-gate. Not only has Stern not made any overtures to the public, but he's clearly not communicating well with the players if it has gotten to the point that they felt it necessary to file a lawsuit.

So, if you work in the NBA offices, stroll over to Stern's side of the floor and check on him. Ask him how he's doing. Bring him a muffin. Get him to open up. There's got to be a reason why he's letting the NBA be dominated by such silly issues. Something else must be weighing on his heart and crowding the space that was previously there for good, fun basketball.