NBA FASTBREAK Where It All Started

A Pimp Named Stern should know that once you let the Jennie out of the bottle its hard to put it back in Remember the first time you got to stay out all night. It was over for your parents after that. They couldn't tell you shit. Well A Pimp Named Stern faces a similar dilemma with his employees in the NBA. Ask yourself a question when did coaches and front office personel lose the ability to controll their franchise players. I'm not talking about your Will Perdues or Smush Parkers. I am talking about your Kobe's, LeBron's,Peyton's,and so on. I Romeo Igromo the man you count on to tell you like it is is going to tell you when all this selfish ass, primadona, diva shit started to happen. It started back in the 1982 season after Paul Westhead had taken over for Lakers coach Jack McKinney following a severe bicycling accident. Westhead led the Lakers to a title in 1980, but a knee injury to Magic Johnson slowed them down and they were eliminated in the first round by the Houston Rockets in 1981. At the start of 1982 Tragic Johnson complained about his role in the offense and with Westhead. Tragic spoke out after a game against Utah and Buss fired Westhead. Tragic's quote at that time was "DON'T BLAME ME, I JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN". He said the offense was unimaginative and that they weren't getting enough shots. That's not a sound enough reason to get a coach fired, but nevertheless it happened, Pat Riley took over and 4 rings later the rest was history. After hearing how different Tragic was back when he was in his early 20's. How in the hell can you blame Iverson for being defiant or for today's players to put their brands and financial needs ahead of the teams. After Tragic came a man named Michael Air Jordan. Up until 1991 the NBA was all about team. Yeah you had talented individuals like Magic,Bird,Wilkins,Isiah and Kareem, but the NBA was defined by the style and play of the two coasts.The East was known for playing hard, being tough and was led by the Celtics. The West was known for uptempo, high flying basketball and was led by The Showtime Lakers. Jordan who was already controversial because of his Jordan Brand shoes that were banned at one time , aimed to show the world that he could win a title all by himself. Scoring leaders and solo acts don't win rings. You have to be unselfish and fit into a team concept is what the pundits said. Six rings later everyone wanted to be like Mike and the age of individual over team was on. A whole generation of players grew up watching Mike and emulating his style on the court only one problem Stern and Madison Ave didn't like it. Its one thing to have Magic smiling or Jordan wagging his tongue. Its another to have Iverson with corn rolls, Kemp grabbing his nuts, Sprewell choking out coaches, and Isiah Ryder breaking laws. Stern bough all of this shit on himself when he accepted what Magic and Jordan did , because it padded his motherfucking pockets. The minute the sponsors or media complained he wanted to go back to the way things used to be. I know times change , but look at the NBA now compared to what it used to be. The guys now are like rock stars. They have their own brands and it is no way in hell they are going to go from being a headliner like Prince to being a backup like Tito or Jermaine. The Frozen One Queen James held a 30 minute special to announce where he was taking his talents to. Carmello Anthony orchestrated his way onto the Knicks. Chris Paul schemed his way out of New Orleans and Dwight Howard is looking to do the same with Orlando. In an effort to get his league back A Pimp Named Stern put in a dress code policy,a penalty for leaving your bench during  fights,technicals for players showing emotion and talking to refs, and zone defenses to encourage team ball over individual exploits.Has it worked no. The games are still announced as Queen James vs The Mamba. Attendance is still down across the league if you aren't in Boston, L.A.,New York or Chicago and last but not least no franchise player wants to play in a small market except for Kevin Durant. The lockout was supposed to address these issues, but instead it was all about money. If A Pimp Named Stern really wanted to preserve the image of the NBA he would have never allowed things to get to this point. The day Tragic fired Westhead coaches around the league lost their stroke. How do you get it back? At this point it would take a lot of work and expertise and that's an article for another day. But I will tell you this A Pimp Named Stern is to blame for creating this monster and if he really wanted to change things just pick up the phone and call Roger Goodell he is full of answers. I'm out like the Dallas Mavericks chances of repeating.