Bill Simmons vs. David Stern

Let me preface this rant by stating that Bill Simmons is one of my all-time favorite columnists, but I kind of disagree with his take eviscerating NBA Commisioner - David Stern.

For so many years, every league has "juiced" certain big market or influential teams and the NBA and Stern have been one of the biggest proponents of this strategy. Finally, as a league, perhaps as a favor to its die-hard fans, many of the NBA owners said "no more!" The move to invalidate the recent Chis Paul trade goes beyond competitive balance ... it is for integrity of a league that often seems to have little left.

Everyone, and their mother knew that Paul was the puzzle piece 1 and that by not trading Bynum, he would be used to acquire puzzle piece two, also known as, Dwight Howard. It sure would have been fun watching NBA nationally-televised games featuring only the Heat, Lakers, Celtics, Knicks, Bulls and Dallas (plus fodder). Maybe my loyalty to the oft downtrodden Minnesota Timberwolves propagates my beliefs, I'm pretty certain that it is not what a majority of the average NBA rube wants and, apparently, is not what a majority of NBA owners want either.

Bill Simmons is as close to knowing what the average fan wants as Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh are to the average voter ... and that is not close at all. If it were up to Mr. Simmons, the Celtics would win the title every year, preferably at the expense of the Laker ... competitive balance be damned. Professional sports leagues are successful because of the many components within the league itself. Would I pay to watch, or would I even watch, Kobe vs. Lebron vs. Carmelo vs. Dirk vs. Rondo vs. Rose 80+ times a year? Nope. Would I do the same for a league wherein the teams and players can compete on the proverbial level playing field? Absolutely!

The league needs to remember the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, and that's where Bill Simmons completely misses the point. The league is not about the east coast vs. the west coast vs. the NBA "darlings." It's not about Lebron and Kobe. It's about getting to see world-class basketball with teams that have a chance of winning every night. It's about watching fantastic team and individual performances from all NBA teams, not just five or six. Mr. Simmons should know this from his love of the NFL.

To paraphrase every smug journalist that has ever issued a condescending counterpoint, "If Bill Simmons doesn't see the connection, he's just not paying attention."