Oscar Gamble Society

Damn. What’s a guy gotta do?

Do you remember that “Seinfeld” episode where George Costanza’s employer tries to get him to quit - rather than just fire him? They eventually board up his office so he can’t get into it - but he ends up going in through the air duct, and then (at first calmly) calls the secretary to advise her that if anybody’s looking for him, he (now shouting) “will be in my office!”

George Costanza… meet Isiah Thomas:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3358377

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Much as Andrew Bogut has done this year as measured by both individual statistics and team success, I don’t see him winning the NBA MVP this year. Must be some sort of bias towards the Upper Midwest teams or something - but it seems clear that the four candidates are Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Lebron James, and Chris Paul.

So who should win? And separately perhaps, who *will* win?

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I say “yes” - but I’m biased obviously.  Attached is a column that discusses Garnett’s candidacy:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-080327&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

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After it appeared as though Garnett would “never play in Boston”, causing some (including Mike Wilbon, who I actually like) to play the race card insisting it was Boston’s racial climate that played a role in Garnett’s decision, it appears as though a deal may be imminent:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2954127

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In all the commentary on the NBA ref scandal, one rather important economic point seems to have been overlooked - the 2007-08 season is the final season for the NBA’s current television contracts. The current cable and broadcast contracts pay just under $800 million per year. In exchange for these sums, networks have gotten a league whose players increasingly look like extras from “Oz,” and assault fans in the stands, and the players’ criminality is now exceeded by the refs. As they prepare to negotiate new multi-year contracts, I’m guessing the networks won’t feel compelled to cough up the same kind of money, let alone the 50%-plus increases that have been the norm ever since Larry Bird and Magic Johnson came into the league. Fun fact: when Bird and Johnson came into the league, network contracts were worth just under $20 million per year.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07202007/news/columnists/nba_in_a_fix_columnists_murray_weiss.htm

Wow….. I don’t know what to say here.  This is a far more important story than any steroids related issue.  Sports has grown to the point where it is virtually impossible for gangsters to influence players in professional sports.  They make too much money…. but refs are another story.  I don’t think they get paid that much, and they clearly can influence a game.  There is pretty much a foul on every play… it is just a question of what is going to be called.  A ref can call 2 quick fouls on Shaq and disrupt the game.   I have a feeling this story is going to be huge….. even David Stern will not be able to fix it.

I realize that there’s little interest in this forum for the NBA, much less the draft - but I still offer two thoughts:

(1)  Consensus seems to be consternation that the Bucks selected Yi Jianlian with the #6 pick overall.  BSG points out that his first name is actually pronounced “E” - thereby making this pick E-6.  Pretty funny.  But I’m reading that Yi wanted to go somewhere that there’s a heavy Chinese population.  Um, I realize Milwaukee is Algonquin for “the good land” - but I don’t think it’s Chinese for “the good land”.  What are the odds this guy ever plays a game for the Bucks?  Actually, what are the odds this guy ever plays a game in the NBA - since nobody really knows how good he is?

(2)  Consensus seems to be that Danny Ainge got taken in his deal with Seattle - mostly cuz Ray Allen is too old.  I dunno… I like the deal.  I love Delonte West, but he’s no Chauncey Billups people.  Wally World was a bust.  Jeff Green may be a terrific pro, but I’m intrigued by Big Baby Davis.  I’m willing to wait and see how this one plays out.  I think it might not be such a bad deal, when history reviews it.

Thoughts?

Economics blog Marginal Revolution (which I strongly recommend) has an interesting post on how to save the NBA. I think most people here would agree that it does need saving. Some of the ideas seem too minor to really care about, and others, like relegation of the weakest teams, are unfortunately implausible. The one I found most intriguing is the idea of shortening the regular season, something that might also benefit the NHL where the season functions as an overly long warmup for playoffs involving every team with any claim to mediocrity. Other ideas that occur to me are developing a broadcast technology that masks tattoos, or league-sponsored stem cell research aimed at cloning Jordan, Magic and Bird.

Given how much attention is given to intolerant and anti-social attitudes (both real and imagined) in sports, I think John Amaechi’s comments about his recent experience in coming out as gay are a breath of fresh air. Instead of dwelling on Tim Hardaway’s troglodytic (and loudly expressed) views, he pointed out what a small minority Hardaway represents, and how supportive most people have been. In what should serve as a sharp rebuke to grievance-mongers off all stripes, he described his fears about coming out and summed them up this way: “I underestimated America.”