Maybe someone ought to have miked David Stern. Wouldn’t you have loved to listen in on the meeting at which the NBA commissioner decided that what his league needs is to hear the players and coaches on TV? So that’s what happened to the NBA. The fans aren’t staying away because too many players are immature, the music is skull-splitting and more than half of the teams have sunk to irrelevancy. No, it’s that we can’t hear the coaches on NBC. Reportedly, it was the NBA’s Entertainment Department that approached Stern with the idea of putting microphones on the coaches and officials, and cameras in the locker room at halftime. All to pump up sagging TV ratings. Yes, those numbers are down 15 to 20 percent from a year ago. And remember that last season was a TV disaster for the NBA, because it came after a stupid lockout in a league in which the average salary is $3 million and the average ticket price is $40. The league is overpriced. When will Stern ever get that message?
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