Video: David Stern Called a ‘Modern Plantation Overseer’

^ quickly becoming one of the most entertaining (and logical) commenters on this site

Why is race brought up on this issue? I don’t think the owners are paying the white, latino, asian and so on players at the moment either. I would apreciate an explanation on things here, cos there’s some weird words and stuff I didn’t really understand, I don’t speak english that good. I may be way off with what I said right now.

Ho Depot is unprofessional? since when

Lakeshow you get worked up more then anyone, idk why your acting like your not part of the problem. if it really is a problem that bothers you enough to say Gee Whiz, that was a big deal in the 40′s right?

The only time you will see me getting worked up about anything ever is when you are attacking me. You will never see me get my panties in a wad over opinion. It just gets old to be mocked by some of you guys a daily basis and that’s when I get worked up. I want to have good discussion without anyone calling names and trying to get the other person upset. What are you saying about the 40′s? Couldn’t grasp what you were getting at there.

everything he does is in the best interest of the owners.

@AllenP – “Again, Gumbel didn’t compare the plight of NBA players to slavery. He compared the mindset of David Stern to the mindset of a plantation overseer.”

The mindset of a plantation overseer implies that Stern views his players as slaves to increase the profits he desires for his “crops” (the league, owners, etc). It’s bracketed within the same concept, how is that not painfully obvious? This argument is perhaps the worst debate topic I’ve ever seen on SLAM.

Enig, that stuffs fun to me. I like to jokingly having a good time with people. You guys go for the throat sometimes though. You go after me and who I am and that’s when it’s not fun and not amusing. And that’s when you’ll get a knee jerk reaction.

No OffTheBackboard it’s implying that Stern acts as if the rights of his players are irrelevant. Like a plantation owner presumably would. Like limiting how much they can make, how long they are allowed to sign for, attempting to restrict job growth (agreeing to a set amount of money without increases, even if the league grows as a whole) – That analogy makes sense, if you don’t automatically jump in the “oh my god he called the players slaves” boat, which is at the bottom of a lake somewhere, because that boat can’t float.

@nbk – The dress code had nothing to do with the owners, it had everything to do with brand image and appealing to a wider audience. And yes, it does make a difference in product presentation. The players are paid millions to play basketball, the least they can do is not show up to games dressed in durags, headbands, and chains (a specific image of Iverson from the 2001 Finals comes to mind). I don’t care personally, but there are thousands that do. Now, if you have a problem with people thinking “thugs” when they look at big black men in durags then blame society’s inherent prejudices, not a commissioner who is doing things to broaden appeal and make more money for EVERYONE involved.

Off The Backboard that’s the point I was trying to get across, but AP wasn’t seeing it.

I’ma tell you like Eboy told me after a particularly brutal war of words me and him had where I thought he went over the line, back when I was fairly new to this site: “it’s just words, kid.”

@nbk – “the rights of his players are irrelevant. Like a plantation owner presumably would. Like limiting how much they can make, how long they are allowed to sign for, attempting to restrict job growth (agreeing to a set amount of money without increases, even if the league grows as a whole)”

The limits are there (on contracts, etc) to protect a business model that is implemented. If the league is growing, but 22 teams are losing money, there is a problem with the structure of how the business is operating, something that even Gumbel agreed with. As for “limiting how much the players make”, the NBA enjoys the highest average salary among all the major sports – the players make a lot of money. Are some of the superstars worth more than they are paid? Sure. But the middle and lower tier players are paid quite handsomely for doing what they do.

It’s true, I was the most hated dude on here for a while, I thought I knew everything, even told the writers what their opinions should be lol – and Off-The-Backboard I didn’t say I agree with Gumbal or Allen on everything, just that the analogy makes sense in the context they were using it. The dress code thing I don’t give a damn about

Lakeshow: You saying that your “black friends” bring up “silly” race discussions is a dismissive and condescending way of saying that whatever race discussion they initiated wasn’t important or worthy enough of discussion. You knew exactly what you were conveying so let’s not play dumb and innocent. Unless Jukai is an Arab & Jewish or black & Jewish, I highly doubt he’s anything other than white. Moving along, you seem to be amongst the last people on here that want to ‘understand’ anything other than your p.o.v as a white male that people of color bring up race too often, especially whenever you deem the situation uneccesary. Yes I believe anyone who uses the term ‘race card’ is a condescending racist. The fact that a few black people have decided to take on the lingo of sneek racists doesn’t make the term less racist or less condescending. It’s not unsual for groups to take on terms coined by others that put their own down, so spare me the whole ‘it’s not racist because black people say it’ argument. If that’s your best defense of your mentality on the subject than why even bother responding? Oh and there’s no anger over here. Not at some screenname on a public site. I find your mentality and comments to be foolish and annoying, but don’t kid yourself into thinking you can affect emotions through a basketball webiste.

BG straight CashMoney on this one. I know I’m waaayyy late in the game here, but for those getting crazy: He’s not being literal. It’s a statement about how Stern’s/the L’s mentality of, approach to and focus on certain aspects pertaining to the packaging, management and conduct of the players/the sport has been handled…

This stupid conversation is still going on? Christ…

safe to say that the majority of the people posting on here don’t have a clue about Allenp’s argument

^^^
Yes, all white people are ignorant and scared of race discussions. 99.9% of them. Glad you found that one guy.

“white people love wayne brady because he makes bryant gumbel look like malcolm x” – Negrodamus , chappelle’s show

David stern can go suck larry bird’s dick.

Seriously, what are people arguing over? Doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the video, cause Gumble never said anything about race. Plantation overseer has nothing to do with race.

He didn’t really say the players are slaves of the owners, not at all along those lines. The point is that Stern seems to have this attitude that the players are worthless to the league, and if they don’t bow down to him, there’s not gonna be NBA basketball. I guess it’s kinda like the NBA is Stern’s plantation and he’s overseeing it, I guess. Plantation overseer doesn’t mean there’s slaves.

To me, this struck me as the first open and viseral criticism of Stern by a major player within the news media. Reality is this–outside of the NBA Basketball circles, the greater basketball community doesn’t think much of La Commish. The NCAA doesn’t think much of him because they lose their talent to him prematurely (At least, prematurely for them) and the way the NCAA game has been “NBA-ized”. USA Basketball removed Stern from having input on the national team after the roster fiascos of the 2002 World Championships and the 2004 Olympics (Iverson and Marbury, with Larry Brown as coach–recipe for disaster). Stern has allowed bad owners/management to stay in control of teams way past their dates of expiration. It makes no sense that for all the years he’s been commissioner, Stern hasn’t found a way to get Donald Sterling and the Clippers separated. James Dolan seems bound and determined to get Isiah Thomas back with the Knicks, fan base be damned. Stern allowed the Chris Cohan situation to go on way too long in Oakland. He allowed Abe Pollin to stay way too long in Washington. Dan Gilbert spends four years Lest we forget, the L now controls the New Orleans franchise because George Shinn and Ray Woolridge couldn’t take care of business–in fact, Shinn and Woolridge ruined the Hornets in TWO cities.
The mainstream sports press loves interviewing Stern, and Stern loves the camera (Which is part of the problem here). But, if you listen closely to some of the things Stern says–separate the the words from the pictures and how some (Wilbon and Kornheiser) fawn over him–one comes to the realization that he’s got a whole lot of bully in him. Think about how poorly he treated Seattle and King County when Clay Bennett wanted to move the Sonics to OKC. Rather than try and sound reasonable in that situation, he was verbally abusive to that whole area and openly participated in making the move. Or his open threat to Stan Van Gundy this past season.
Twice in his tenure, the officials that Stern has said have been “the best in the world” have had money issues. In the middle part of the 1990s, they had to fire some refs for swapping down on plane tickets and pocketing the difference. Then there was Donaghy–and no matter what Stern claims, he wasn’t the only one. When the league was flush with money, one group got shorted–that was the refs.
The NBA game–the on-court product–has suffered HORRIBLY in the Stern Era; with skill level having been diminished for showmanship. For all of La Commish’s edicts about dress, he didn’t do anything when basketball got more physical (dirty)–the second Kevin McHale clotheslined Kurt Rambis in the 1984 Finals, McHale should have been tossed from Game 4–and probably Game 5. I have always insisted that single incident opened up the Pandora’s Box of “physical play”–allowed for the Bad Boy Pistons and the play of the Celtics in both the Bird and Garnett Eras.
Plus, I’m with many who believe that Stern rigged results. Ratings drove the officiating in that Kings/Lakers Game 6 in 2002. Vendetta drove the officiating in the 2006 Finals. It might have been a nice touch that Mark Cuban had Donald Carter accept the NBA Championship Trophy from Stern this past summer–but think for a second. Would Cuban want to accept ANYTHING from Stern after all the times La Commish has hosed him??!?
When I go to an NBA game, I want to see baskeball; the best basketball in the world. Instead I get obnoxious pregame announcers, guys firing t-shirts out of air cannons, acrobats dunking off mini-trampolines, and cheerleaders (The cheerleaders, I don’t mind). If I want the barkers and everything else, I can go to the circus. Who gets the extra money the owners want??!? The people I didn’t go to a game to see. But this is SternWorld, and this is the purpose of working the players the way he has.
See, Gumbel’s comments really spoke more to the bully pulpit that Stern has been using through the lockout–and over the years–moreso than any plantation owner/slave issue. Stern has not just talked down about the players, but he has talked down to the media and the public.
But he has been doing that for YEARS.

I got lost on the Dan Gilbert section–I was saying that Gilbert spent four years coddling LeBron and his boys in Cleveland, and when LBJ exercised a choice, Gilbert went rabid to the point that, if I were a player in Cleveland, I would start marking off the days until I hit free agency.