Glenn
10-27-2007, 12:47 PM
:mccosky:
Wallace gets Stern rebuke
Commissioner infers forward's comments on league wanting Cavaliers in Finals disrespectful.
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News
AUBURN HILLS -- NBA commissioner David Stern, after spending several weeks in China, rushed back to New York this week to preside over the league's Board of Governors meetings and give his annual state of the league address.
But just as he was about to catch his breath, he heard a noise coming out of Pistons camp.
"If it's Friday, it must be Rasheed Wallace," Stern said with a heavy sigh during a telephone interview Friday morning.
Stern had been briefed about some comments Wallace made after the Pistons' final exhibition Wednesday. Wallace was asked about the Pistons' playoff collapse last season and his ejection from Game 6.
"I still don't think they (Cavaliers) beat us, we beat ourselves," Wallace said. "And I think we also fell victim to that personal NBA thing where they are trying to make it a world game and get (television) ratings. They wanted to put their darling in there (the NBA Finals) and they did, and look what ended up happening."
The league's darling, according to Wallace, was LeBron James, and what ended up happening were the worst ratings in the modern history of the NBA Finals.
"This game ain't basketball anymore, it's entertainment," Wallace said. "It's starting to get like the WWF. There ain't no real wrestling anymore either. It's all fake."
Wallace has lodged the same basic complaint in varying but always colorful ways the past few years. Stern has heard him and, although he has yet to fine him for the comments, he doesn't appreciate them.
"We have a great game and it provides a lot of people -- Rasheed and myself included -- a very good living," Stern said. "I think we all need to learn to be respectful of all that this game has brought and know that there are a lot of people who have worked extremely hard to bring us all to this place. I think Rasheed needs to think about that before he starts questioning things and making those kinds of statements."
Stern, though, didn't belabor the point.
"I think sometimes different players do different things to get themselves prepared for a season," he said.
Wallace gets Stern rebuke
Commissioner infers forward's comments on league wanting Cavaliers in Finals disrespectful.
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News
AUBURN HILLS -- NBA commissioner David Stern, after spending several weeks in China, rushed back to New York this week to preside over the league's Board of Governors meetings and give his annual state of the league address.
But just as he was about to catch his breath, he heard a noise coming out of Pistons camp.
"If it's Friday, it must be Rasheed Wallace," Stern said with a heavy sigh during a telephone interview Friday morning.
Stern had been briefed about some comments Wallace made after the Pistons' final exhibition Wednesday. Wallace was asked about the Pistons' playoff collapse last season and his ejection from Game 6.
"I still don't think they (Cavaliers) beat us, we beat ourselves," Wallace said. "And I think we also fell victim to that personal NBA thing where they are trying to make it a world game and get (television) ratings. They wanted to put their darling in there (the NBA Finals) and they did, and look what ended up happening."
The league's darling, according to Wallace, was LeBron James, and what ended up happening were the worst ratings in the modern history of the NBA Finals.
"This game ain't basketball anymore, it's entertainment," Wallace said. "It's starting to get like the WWF. There ain't no real wrestling anymore either. It's all fake."
Wallace has lodged the same basic complaint in varying but always colorful ways the past few years. Stern has heard him and, although he has yet to fine him for the comments, he doesn't appreciate them.
"We have a great game and it provides a lot of people -- Rasheed and myself included -- a very good living," Stern said. "I think we all need to learn to be respectful of all that this game has brought and know that there are a lot of people who have worked extremely hard to bring us all to this place. I think Rasheed needs to think about that before he starts questioning things and making those kinds of statements."
Stern, though, didn't belabor the point.
"I think sometimes different players do different things to get themselves prepared for a season," he said.