Did anyone see/hear the awesomely hilarious smack-down that David Stern gave Jim Rome the other day for asking if the lottery was fixed - "Are you still beating your wife?" as a tool of deflection. lmao

Nevermind that the lottery probably is fixed :Smiley122

I thought Rome was right in asking the question because my immediate thought upon seeing the Hornets get the first pick was that the lottery was rigged. My impression of Stern's denial was, "Me thinks he doth protest too much."

He beat Rome like an ugly step-child.

I don't think the lottery was rigged because of the reputable accounting firm which oversees the lottery. Rome was completely out of line--what kind of answer was he expecting from Stern? Sure Stern's fuse was short; however, media people tend to think that ever question is fair game. Rome had no business confronting Stern with that line of questioning. If the lottery was rigged; why didn't we get Blake Griffin?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--david-stern-s-tantrum-to-jim-rome-another-reason-why-it-s-getting-time-for-him-to-leave-.html

It was the question that was on everyone's mind. That's why it was a legitimate question. Some are saying Stern needs to step down over this because his actions hurt the image of the NBA.

Thinking the lottery is rigged is ridculous. First of all, there are always multiple deserving teams whose improvement would be in the NBA's best interest. Secondly, one never knows what will happen with players or how they will develop. A perfect case in point is the selection of Greg Oden over Kevin Durant, Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. Poor Portland has made a few serious errors. Thirdly, the only way to keep a secret, especially one that big, is to make sure only one person knows it. To achieve rigging the draft, multiple people would have to know. One of those people would need money and write a juicy tell-all. Or tell his wife, who would tell her best friend who would tell her manicurist who would tell her boyfriend, who would call in to a sports talk radio show. Stick to city planning Spartan.

Thinking the lottery is rigged is ridculous. First of all, there are always multiple deserving teams whose improvement would be in the NBA's best interest. Secondly, one never knows what will happen with players or how they will develop. A perfect case in point is the selection of Greg Oden over Kevin Durant, Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan...

This is more along the lines of the answer that Stern should have given instead of throwing a hissy fit. He should have acknowledged what everyone was thinking, then shown why it couldn't be true. But the way he responded made me think of a person who is more guilty than innocent. Maybe I watch "Cheaters" too often and see these guys who are caught red-handed then get all indignant that their wife/girlfriend would stoop so low as to not trust them. They try to flip it from being about them to being about the accuser. LOL

Thinking the lottery is rigged is ridculous. First of all, there are always multiple deserving teams whose improvement would be in the NBA's best interest. Secondly, one never knows what will happen with players or how they will develop. A perfect case in point is the selection of Greg Oden over Kevin Durant, Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. Poor Portland has made a few serious errors. Thirdly, the only way to keep a secret, especially one that big, is to make sure only one person knows it. To achieve rigging the draft, multiple people would have to know. One of those people would need money and write a juicy tell-all. Or tell his wife, who would tell her best friend who would tell her manicurist who would tell her boyfriend, who would call in to a sports talk radio show. Stick to city planning Spartan.

Betts, I think the conspiracy that the NBA lottery is rigged underlines a certain amount of defeatism that even I am incapable of comprehending - hence the evil smiley. If the NBA lottery is rigged, then there's something much bigger at play in the league office and you're correct that would be difficult to keep under wraps. I don't actually believe the conspiracy, but it is interesting.

Evil smiley for tongue in cheek comments > :Smiley122

I applaud Jim Rome for asking the tough questions that are on the minds of sports fans. Way to often local sports radio personalities are nothing but shills for the local players, coaches, and administrators. When was the last time a local reporter asked a challenging question to Stoops, Gundy, Brooks, et al.? The last time will be the first time.

Rome is a baby who can dish it out but can't take it. The next day he was whining how Stern's wife beating retort led some people to question whether he had a history of beating his wife. I guess he's to pig headed to get the irony.

Stern totally owned Rome.

I thought Rome was right in asking the question because my immediate thought upon seeing the Hornets get the first pick was that the lottery was rigged. My impression of Stern's denial was, "Me thinks he doth protest too much."

He certainly made a legitimate question highlighted due to a confrontational answer. Though on the lottery I remember hearing reasons why about five of the eight worst teams you could come up with a decent reason why the league would have rigged it for them if they had gotten the #1 pick.

Rome is a baby who can dish it out but can't take it. The next day he was whining how Stern's wife beating retort led some people to question whether he had a history of beating his wife. I guess he's to pig headed to get the irony.

Stern totally owned Rome.

How do you not get the irony, Stern sensed his retort had gone over Rome's head and then even explained it to him! If Stern had even justified that loaded question with an answer, like the obvious NO I'm not desperate to help the Hornets at risk of my professional integrity, then he opens the door for implying that the NBA does sometimes fix the lottery.

There was a better way of asking the question than, "Yeah so uh Stern, was the fix in with the Hornets, or was there something else at play?"

I think David Stern has done a damn good job as commish, last year's lockout fiasco aside (probably the biggest tarnish on his legacy).

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--david-stern-s-tantrum-to-jim-rome-another-reason-why-it-s-getting-time-for-him-to-leave-.html

It was the question that was on everyone's mind. That's why it was a legitimate question. Some are saying Stern needs to step down over this because his actions hurt the image of the NBA.
The only ones calling for him to step down are the self-important media types who don't believe they should ever be questioned or doubted about their motive over questions they ask. Stern was right about Rome, he has used the same attack tactics forever but acts flabbergasted that anyone dare question him.

This conversation is what happens when two massive egos meet. Lol. They both can be huge a-holes.

And, unless someone has some hard evidence, can we quit with the conspiracy theories?

Reminds of when Rome kept calling Jim Everett{then QB of LA rams}Chris Everett.........Jim eventually grew tired of it and gave him a verbal warning before getting physical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNgqQVHI_8

Reminds of when Rome kept calling Jim Everett{then QB of LA rams}Chris Everett.........Jim eventually grew tired of it and gave him a verbal warning before getting physical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNgqQVHI_8

This comes to mind everytime I hear or see the name "Jim Rome".

Reminds of when Rome kept calling Jim Everett{then QB of LA rams}Chris Everett.........Jim eventually grew tired of it and gave him a verbal warning before getting physical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNgqQVHI_8

That looks totally staged.

I don't think the lottery was rigged, but I'm not convinced the NBA has totally clean hands, either. Most NBA fans thought that the initial trade offered to the Hornets for Chris Paul would have made the Hornets significantly better, but Stern nixed it. Now...maybe Stern and the NBA wanted the Hornets to tank just so they'd have a better shot at getting the #1 pick...which they did. If so, their strategy worked. However, after reading excerpts from Tim Donaghy's book: http://deadspin.com/5392067/excerpts-from-the-book-the-nba-doesnt-want-you-to-read one has to wonder how much shady stuff is really happening in the NBA. At one of the Thunder's recent playoff games, a fan was holding up a sign that said, "Tim Donaghy????" The refs had security confiscate the sign. Frankly, I think the NBA is second only to boxing in corruption.

Well thankfully the NBA was corrupt enough to let Bennett swoop in and nab the Sonics lol

Well thankfully the NBA was corrupt enough to let Bennett swoop in and nab the Sonics lol

Seattle talks like we went in and took them at gunpoint. The NBA rarely does anything but rubber stamp team sales, the Sonics were hardly an asset anyone would want to buy and keep running the same way, they had an average operating loss of 15 million per year for the group that owned it from 2002-2006 and basketball quality was below average all but one of those years. The possibility of building a new stadium that would make the team a profitable endeavor was near zero, two ownership groups with decent political and private connections tried to get a new arena for around ten years and failed multiple times. Schultz looked for other Seattle owners before selling to Bennett, they could not find/organize a new local group there willing to buy it. They can say they feel lied to which makes it worse than when they will take another team away from a different city but I doubt they would feel any better if Bennett came in and said I want to move the team but if you agree to build a new arena in the next 18 months it will stay here.

Well thankfully the NBA was corrupt enough to let Bennett swoop in and nab the Sonics lol

You've been watching too much CNBC lately. :rolleyes:

Just like to point out that during the halftime show of last night's game, Michael Wilbon also asked Stern about the lottery being fixed. We've seen that Stern will lie to us (just as Sonics fans) so that's not an issue. The question is whether he's lying this time or not.

Thinking the lottery is rigged is ridculous. First of all, there are always multiple deserving teams whose improvement would be in the NBA's best interest. Secondly, one never knows what will happen with players or how they will develop. A perfect case in point is the selection of Greg Oden over Kevin Durant, Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. Poor Portland has made a few serious errors. Thirdly, the only way to keep a secret, especially one that big, is to make sure only one person knows it. To achieve rigging the draft, multiple people would have to know. One of those people would need money and write a juicy tell-all. Or tell his wife, who would tell her best friend who would tell her manicurist who would tell her boyfriend, who would call in to a sports talk radio show. Stick to city planning Spartan.

Very good analogy and very vell stated! Benjamin Franklin said it best: "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead!"