Bryant Gumbel calls David Stern a "plantation overseer"

Sorry. But again, read that sentence as it's actually written.

"Stern's version of what’s been going on behind closed doors has, of course, been disputed. But his efforts were typical of a commissioner, who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer treating NBA men as if they were his boys. It’s part of Stern’s M.O. Like his past self-serving edicts on dress code or the questioning of officials, his moves are intended to do little more than show how he’s the one keeping the hired hands in their place."


In what way does David Stern NOT "seem eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer?" Especially to his bosses, the owners?

That fingerpointing episode with D. Wade certainly doesn't argue in Stern's favor.

 

Did anyone expect anything less?

How many slaves does Michael Jordan own?

 

A Bryant Gumbel thread? Then I get to pull out this:

Sorry the poster couldn't spell his name right.

 

Last night was the first airing of this episode.

 

Pointing a finger at someone equates to treating that person as a slave? I am sorry, you can argue that Stern has taken an overly paternalistic view of his relationship with players, but there is no way in hell to leap to "plantation owner" from that. For God's sake, they are going to war over whether players get 50 or 53 percent of revenues. Jesus H.

 

No one said that.

 

Well, that was the one incident you cited in favor of viewing Stern as a plantation owner, so you seem to attach quite a bit of meaning to it.

Allow me to be more general, then: Anyone who says David Stern is acting like a plantation owner clearly needs a refresher on what a plantation owner was.

 

If you're unfamiliar with the incident, please go back to the link I posted. Henry Abbott's piece is pretty explicit about when and how these talks broke down. The fingerpointing was a flashpoint for the negotiations.

Again the relevant sentence:

"Stern's version of what’s been going on behind closed doors has, of course, been disputed. But his efforts were typical of a commissioner, who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer treating NBA men as if they were his boys. It’s part of Stern’s M.O. Like his past self-serving edicts on dress code or the questioning of officials, his moves are intended to do little more than show how he’s the one keeping the hired hands in their place."

The qualifier "has always seemed eager to be viewed as some sort of . . ." is important.

Because Stern has an audience of exactly 30 people - the owners.

 

Right. But I don't know where the "has always seemed eager to be viewed as some sort of ..." comes from other than the opinion of Henry Abbott and his plants with the Players Association. For any of those guys to look at their paychecks or anything else about their lives and even come close to the term "plantation overseer" is insane.

I don't care much for Stern and I think his whole league is rigged for TV dollars, but the players are being complete tools if they think anyone views them as some kind of downtrodden underclass whose civil rights are being trampled.

Oh by the way: You know what was missing from that Abbott piece amid all the denials that Jeffrey Kessler suggested the players would go down to 50 percent? A quote from Jeffrey Kessler.

 

Noted.

 

David Stern is an employee of the owners, all billionaires.

He does what the owners tell him, he says what they tell him to say.

Billionaires expect their employees -- whether they are making $7 an hour or $7 million a year -- to bend over, shut the fuck up, do what they are told and take what they are given so the billionaires can keep more of the money for themselves.

It's not a racial/slavery thing (well it is a teeny bit) -- it's mainly just billionaires believing the entire world exists for the purpose of licking their nutsacks.

The uberclass going for unconditional victory.

 

I guess the average slave makes about $100K a week. Because that's what the average NBA player makes. Barney Gumbel would make more sense than this clown.