Some people will believe what they want to believe in the face of all evidence. I am not that person.
I stopped watching the NBA after the 2009-2010 NBA season; however, my son told me that the NBA had cleaned up it’s act. After watching Lebron actually get called for traveling in multiple games, and Kobe getting called for cheap shots, he said that last year, star calls, and home team calls, were for the most part, gone.
As a result, I started to watch the games again. It turns out that he was right. For some reason, the NBA decided to clean things up. Lebron was no longer allowed to travel with the ball tucked under his arm like a running back; Howard was no longer allowed to drive into the chest of a stationary player with his feet set; Nowinsky was no longer allowed to clear out space with his elbows before shooting; Durant ceased to get the Jordan like phantom calls, and Kobe was no longer allowed to cheap shot, or injure other player at will. Last year, the NBA was relatively clean, during the regular season.
In the play offs there were some bad calls like Wade’s take down and injury of Rondo. Was there more to it than that? I can only speculate.
After watching the Knicks Celtics game it is apparent that the old ways are back again. A bad call is a bad call; however, when bad calls become systematic, and patterns of officiating become obvious, they are no longer bad calls, but something else. After watching the blatant and repeated “star calls” for Mello, and in some cases, flagrant fouls committed against the Celtics without a call, it is time to watch something else. Only “true believers”, people that don’t know the rules well, or fans that like the script, can continue calling the NBA a true sport. It is not. It is only scripted entertainment designed to make money for the NBA. …too bad.
So again, I say goodbye to the NBA.
… maybe Donahee was not lying.
